DISCLAIMER: Welcome! I am Nuin and I will be your guide as we embark on this wondrous tour of Yugi-Oh and Yaoi-land. Now remember that feeding and petting the characters is forbidden at all times. I do not wish for them to run off with any of you, which would result in disabling me from writing the rest of the story. Please keep your arms and legs inside the moving vehicle as I do not wish to receive any lawsuits containing dismemberment of tour-guests. Thank you.

WARNING: May I also kindly remind you that this story is in fact a Yaoi-story. Which means lovers of the same gender. Anyone with restrictions against this form of love is asked to please leave the premises as it will probably upset the characters. Now if you'll please turn to your right, I believe that we are in for a treat as the characters begin on a new story.

Still applying for this chapter.

"Blah...Blah" - denotes regular speech.

'Blah...Blah' - denotes thoughts.

"Blah...Blah" - denotes speech in Ancient Egyptian

(Blah...Blah) – denotes translation from Ancient Egyptian

Born to Servitude.

By Nuin.

04. Learning and Longing.

He stretched lazily across the bed, ruffling the sheets in the process. The morning sun shone through the small window, letting him know that now was not the time to slack off. He had to get to his lessons and the teacher was as dreadful as the ones he had at home. But if he wanted to understand the language that Seth and Atemu spoke, he had to go. Shifting his weight he swung his legs over the side of the bed and planted his feet firmly on the floor. Draping the sheet around his body he walked over to the window and looked out at the garden, where he could see several slaves tending the plants.

He sighed and stretched once again to get his body to function properly. Actually he was looking forward to his lessons, if only the teacher was someone else. At least he understood more now than he did, when he first woke up here two weeks ago. It had been Atemu who had insisted that the palace linguist should teach him to read, write and speak Hieratic. Well, who would want to spend time with someone, who didn't understand what you were saying? Though Jou still remembered what Atemu had first said to him, it wasn't until a few days later that he actually understood the words.

Atemu had taken him by the hand leading him away from the slave trader and towards the city and a pair of sedans, with Seth following behind at a relaxed pace. Atemu had turned to him and smiled.

"Pet'er ren-ek?" (What is your name?)

Jou had just looked at him with puzzlement and Atemu caught on quickly. Letting go of his hand Atemu brought his own to his chest pointing at himself.

"Atemu Panseru I, neb nesut taui, netjer nefer, per'aa." (I am Atemu Panseru, Lord of the two countries, the good God, Pharaoh)

At this Jou had only looked more perplexed and Atemu sighed, he pointed once again at himself.

"Atemu Panseru." He then pointed at the Kaiba look-a-like, who just snorted and crossed his arms, looking extremely bored. "Seth, Hem-netjeru, wab ef. Seth ef." (Seth, Servant of the Gods, he is a priest. He is Seth.)

Atemu had thrown in the name a second time only to emphasize his point, he ignored the following 'Hn' from the aforementioned person and proceeded to point at Jou, urging him on. Having finally caught on with all the foreign words jumbled together in his head, he inclined his head and grinned.

"Jounouchi Katsuya...Jou."

Atemu smiled yet again and offered his hand to Jou, who took it letting himself be led away from the market. The first thing Atemu had done, when they reached the palace was to arrange that Jou would be taught the language of Kemet. Jou was grateful for it and studied as much as he could on his own as well as with the teacher.

He was startled out of his thoughts as a servant entered with fresh clothes and a tray of food. The girl smiled tentatively and put down the tray on the table next to him, he smiled back. Iamet had been assigned to him, to help him adjust in his new life and also with his studies.

Iamet was a shy girl, her waist-long reddish-black hair was tied in a loose ponytail and her demure emerald-green eyes shone brightly behind her bangs. She wore a simple tunic and laced sandals, her wrists surrounded by golden bracelets. In her ears were two golden hoop-earrings and a gold necklace engraved with the sacred hieroglyphs and decorated with small carnelian stones and in intricate patterns.

Though in the duration if these two weeks he had only seen Iamet and his teacher, there was no sign of Seth. Atemu at least had given him a reason for his absence, he was the Pharaoh and had his duties, but even he had occasionally come to see his progress. Seth however had flat out ignored and avoided him since they had arrived at the palace.

When he found out that he was intended to be a personal slave and Seth's slave none the less, he fumed. There was no way he was going to play nice with Seth if he was the one to order him around, besides he was a free man. Well he was before he came here and was bought, but he wouldn't give up without a fight. Jounouchi Katsuya was no man's dog... slave.

Iamet had explained the concept to him, which only fuelled his anger further. He would serve Seth as what in his own time probably would be the equivalent of a butler. When his education was finished, he would move into Seth's quarters, where he would lay out his 'master's' clothes, draw baths for him, run errands and serve him his meals among other things, and above all he would be a constant companion and bodyguard to him. In her tiny mouse-like voice she told him that the Pharaoh Atemu Panseru had been impressed by his skills as a fighter and it would do him well in his new profession.

Her small voice broke his contemplation, he was to attend his lessons in a few moments. Jou groaned, even though he was looking forward to learning more of this language, he dreaded the teacher...he was just as boring as old Mrs. Karasu, his history teacher. He smiled warily at Iamet, who in return blushed slightly not deciphering his smile for what it was, dread.

Jou sighed, gestured for Iamet to leave the room so he could dress and sat down to eat his breakfast.

Damn, writing like this was difficult, how could anyone stand using a pen made of rush dipped in ink was beyond him. He had to be careful or he would either spill the ink or drip it all over the papyrus. This was actually the first time he had been allowed to use these items, before he had been restricted to the usage of a slab of wet clay and a stick. Jou decided he would make this perfect and then steal it to have it framed if...when he got home again.

He trailed his eyes over the hunched form of his new 'slave'. Hidden in the shadows he watched over the boy's lesson, who over the course of the last few weeks had shown immense aptitude in learning the language of Kemet. Soon he would be introduced to his other lessons, but language came first, then he would learn to do what he was bought for.

He had been studying the boy, Jou, for some time now, trying to figure out his motives. The slave trader had told them that he was a freshly caught specimen, incapable of speaking their language and didn't know the basics of a slave's profession, but that could have been an act. He was determined to find out if the boy posed a threat to the Pharaoh and himself. He could be a spy or an assassin, it was because of this that he had persuaded Panseru to let 'Jou' stay in private chambers until they could deem him trustworthy and in return gain his trust.

He chuckled slightly, when he heard the blonde curse profoundly as he spilt the ink all over the floor and the table, yet not a drop had come on the papyrus. Seth watched on with curiosity as he heard, what he assumed was the native tongue of the boy echo in the room. Retreating to his chambers, Seth grabbed a papyrus scroll and jotted down, what he thought was the words the boy had used, he would ask about them later.

A single candle stood proudly on the cake, its flame shimmering in the dark. He gathered his breath and blew out the tiny light.

"This is for you Jou-kun." Yugi stifled a sob as he said those words, two weeks had gone by and still Jou hadn't been found. It was his birthday today, January 25th. Suddenly it all looked hopeless, what if Jou never came back? What if he was dead? No, he wouldn't believe it, Jou had to be alive and amazingly enough Seto shared his view. Kaiba Seto was currently sitting in front of him across the table watching the cake with solemn eyes. He looked tired as if he hadn't slept in days, which wouldn't surprise him if it turned out to be true. Seto was stubborn. He was even the one who insisted that they would go by their first names, rivalry could wait, Jou was more important.

Yugi looked at the others gathered at the kitchen table in the Kame Game Shop, they were silent and the air around them was that which would be appropriate for a funeral. Shizuka, who was sitting next to himself, was crying silently, silver tears streaming down her cheeks, eyes red and puffed, it looked as if she had been crying for hours. He placed a hand on her shoulder, wanting to comfort her, she turned her green eyes towards him and smiled gratefully. He returned it with his own weary smile. He was tired, so tired.

In the first few days following Jou's disappearance he had hoped and wished for that this was all a dream and that Jou would burst through the door any minute making it all a joke. But as the days flowed by and the police was on the brink of giving up on finding him, Yugi found himself loosing hope. He was often seen crying and even Seto had once been confronted with the task of comforting him. Yet when Seto had held him, it felt as if it was Seto himself that needed to be comforted.

They had over the course of days developed a fragile friendship and they found comfort in talking with each other about everyday things, which evidently reached the subject of Jou. Seto was wary of speaking about Jou, Yugi could tell he was afraid that something might slip, something he wanted to keep hidden.

Yugi took hold of a knife and began to cut the cake offering the others assembled a piece each. He noticed Jou's father taking the offered piece with downcast eyes rimmed with tears. He had said nothing throughout the entire 'party', only occasionally nodding to questions asked to him. He was not as energetic as he used to be, Jou's disappearance had taken their toll on everyone present. They ate in silence, missing the person for whom this celebration was intended.

He threw himself haphazardly on the bed exhausted. When 'Dread' as he had come to name his language teacher announced that his lessons were over for the day, he hadn't hesitated a second to make himself scarce and retreat back to his room. Luckily Iamet had already been there and had left some fruit, bread and water for him, which he gratefully devoured.

In the middle of his lesson he had suddenly discovered, what day it would have been back home. His birthday. He sighed and shifted on the bed to get more comfortable.

'Wonder what the others are doing? Do they even miss me, perhaps they're searching for me? 'Tousan...Shizuka...guys, I miss you.'

A crystalline tear slithered down his cheek, slowly his breath evened out and he fell asleep.

A/N: Iamet is a verb that means 'To Charm'. It's pronounced I-Amet.

Carnelian: A red stone that drives the family unit. It gives joy to life and creativity. It strengthens the voice, gives eloquence and abides to charity. It stands for purity and due to its bond to family ties, it was often used in signet rings. The goddess Isis were said to possess a belt mad of carnelian, where the stone was to help the dead reach the underworld.

The carnelian will be a symbol of Atemu Panseru. (Iamet was originally a slave of Atemu, but was assigned to Jou by Atemu.)

Karasu: is the Japanese word for crow(Heehee, old lady crow.)

Kemet: The land of Egypt, the black land surrounding the Nile River.

Note: I do not think that Jou is stupid, he may be clumsy and a goofball at time, but if he wants to learn he will. I just believe that he has a very short attention span when it comes to things that doesn't interest him. And since he really wants to know what the people around him are saying, he will devote his attention to learning.