Sakakku

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Chapter 11

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Duke finally stumbled out of the storm. It was pretty amazing; once he got far enough away he dared to look over his shoulder. It was like a wall of sand.

It took him five minutes of internal agony to decide whether to go after Seto or now. It was probably the right thing to do, but what were the odds of finding him again? And he wasn't about to go back onto the storm.

Then there was the constant worry that Marik and Bakura would follow the Shadow Summonings. If Rare Hunters found him out there…

He and Kaiba had been walking into the sun before. He took a deep breath, saluted the storm and wished Seto luck, and turned his back to it.

He thought only about escaping his current situation. He had no idea he was on an intercept course with not only Tristan Taylor and Espa Roba, but Yami and Yugi, Serenity and Mai.

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"I have no disguise!" Joey realized aloud. A bit late, since the thought only occurred to him as a small village came in his line of sight. The only item of clothing he had with him was the simple tunic he'd gotten at Shadi and Ishizu's. He doubted wearing the small pack over his head would be inconspicuous.

After a while of fretting, he came to a satisfactory conclusion: he would eat and then think. Food always helped his brain anyway.

"Maybe no one will notice me?" he mused as he slung the pack containing the bread around and unzipped it. It was already partially open, but he didn't pay attention. "Naah- they would have to know me. I was runner-up in Duelist Kingdom, after all. They'd recognize m- aaah"

Bob blinked dolefully up at him.

"You've been eating my bread!" Joey accused the lizard. Bob didn't seem to care. "Wait- you came all the way from Shadi's rock? I've been walking all day!" He paused: "Walking all day without food. If you'll excuse me-" He broke off a large piece from an area without lizard bite marks and shoved half of it in his mouth at once. "So what do you suggest?" he asked with his mouth full. "You think I could disguise myself?"

Bob crawled out of the pack and up Joey's leg. He settled himself on the rough cloth of Joey's tunic and went to sleep.

"You're brilliant, Bob!" Joey said, smiling. "I'll sleep, and go in the village at night! And then, uh… well, I can figure things out from there!"

xXx

"Which house, which house?" Joey mumbled. "I guess I'll let you decide." He reached into the pack and pulled out Bob. He was sleeping.

Joey put Bob down on the ground and waited. He kept on sleeping.

"You're no help," Joey grumbled, scooping up the lizard again and putting him back in the pouch with the remainder of the bread. "Ah… let's see… this one!" He pointed triumphantly at a small house about two hundred feet down the road. There was a flickering light, as if from a candle, that he could vaguely see through the sheet of cloth hanging over a window.

As he walked, he wondered briefly if he should try and disguise himself; but he had nothing available. Then he wondered what he should do if the people in the house recognized him and called the Rare Hunters. But he'd never really been one to worry about these sorts of things. He'd take them as they came.

He knocked on the door.

It didn't take the person inside long to get to the door. A girl, about ten, swung open the door and gazed up at him. She had large, innocent brown eyes and a pouty mouth.

"Eh, hi there," Joey said, grinning down at her. "What's your name?"

"Sara," the girl said. She spoke with a lisp.

"Hi, Sara," Joey said slowly, wondering how Serenity would have dealt with a child. She'd probably be very patient and understanding, he decided. "Is your mommy home?"

The girl slowly swung her head. "My mommy died when I was born," she said solemnly.

Joey's jaw dropped. "Oh- ah- sorry-" he stammered. How would Serenity deal with this? "I'm sorry," he said again. "Uh, is your dad home?"

Sara shook her head again. "He left Peter and me when Peter was old enough to watch me all by his self," she told him.

It was funny how close he felt to her right now. "Okay," he said, blinking, trying to collect his thoughts. "Who's Peter?"

"My big brother," Sara said, and behind her back a tall boy appeared. By the tousled light blonde hair the same shade as Sara, Joey guessed that this was her older brother.

"Peter?" he asked, trying out his trademark goofy grin.

"Yes," Peter said, reaching down and picking up Sara. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Ah-" Joey stammered. Odd how he hadn't really thought about that. "I kind of need a place to stay for the night," he finally said. It wasn't entirely true; he wouldn't have minded sleeping out in the desert. But it could be dangerous and besides, he needed food and water. If he stayed here, he hoped that the people would feed him.

Of course, there was more than one kind of food. Above all, he wanted information.

"There's a place down the street," Peter said, pointing. "It's a public place; we get a few travelers here. There are mattresses lined up in a building and right outside is a well. The man in charge will also feed you the first three meals for free."

"I, uh…" Joey's voice trailed off. How could he explain to them that he couldn't go there? He couldn't take a chance on being seen.

"Peter?" A girl came out of the back room, ducking through the folds of cloth hanging over the doorways. She was wearing, Joey was surprised to see, neon blue robes with green swirls on them. He'd thought that everyone was wearing muted colors; at least, that's all he'd seen.

The girl, looking a few years younger than Peter, (probably his own age) stopped abruptly. Her blonde hair, cut a little past her chin, swished across her face. She was clutching a paintbrush in her hand, and now she jabbed that at him. "I know you," she said, looking at his features wide-eyed. "You're Joey Wheeler! The duelist! Marik and Bakura's prisoner!"

Joey gulped.

"I thought I recognized you," Peter said in surprise, turning back to look him over more carefully. "Joey Wheeler?"

"Yeah," he answered, waving a hand weakly.

"What are you doing here?" Peter asked, stepping back.

"I told you," Joey said, one hand patting the side of his tunic softly. His deck was hidden away in there. "I need a place to stay."

The boy seemed about to say something, but: "Let him stay, Peter," the girl interrupted. "I want to ask him a lot of things. Like what he's doing here. Why he's not in the dungeons."

Peter looked between Joey and the girl a few times, then reached behind Joey and closed the door softly. "I'll put Sara to bed," he said quietly, and the young girl shifted in his arms. "You can give him some water, Nikkō."

The girl, whose name Joey surmised was Nikkō, nodded and flashed Peter a smile. As Peter ducked through one opening, Nikkō turned and went through another. Assuming he was supposed to follow her, Joey trotted after her and found himself in… a surprising room.

"What is this?" he asked, turning in circles.

"Hm? This? It's what Sara calls the 'Picture' room." She crossed over to a stone well, prominently placed in the middle of the room. "She said that because Peter and I paint- make pictures- in here a lot. But that's not really the only thing we do."

"I- see," Joey said, still amazed. The well was in the center of the room, surrounded by several large plants and flowers. Half-finished easels stood at random intervals. There were ferns in clay pots in every corner.

To his right stood a giant loom, with a purple-and-blue pattern mostly finished. Next to that were several stone benches; reams of cloth were haphazardly draped over them. Several poles were planted in the ground and robes like the colorful one Nikkō was wearing were on them, looking finished.

"So- I take it you're the artsy type?" Joey asked, dazed.

"Yeah," Nikkō said, turning from the well with a bucket of water and a smile. "Peter and I- watch out!"

Joey turned to see two buckets of clay behind him; he'd been about to back into them. "Oh- thanks." He accepted the water and began chugging it; it felt wonderful.

"Do you want me to take your stuff?" Nikkō asked with a small grin.

"Yeah, thanks." One by one, Joey unslung the canteens and handed them to her; she tossed them on top of a mound of straw. "How'd you get all this stuff?" he asked, unfastening his pack.

"Imports. There's a man in town we pay to travel and get us raw materials," Nikkō shrugged. "Peter and I make a living by selling our art."

"To everyone?" Joey handed her the pack.

"Well, mostly people in this town. From what Robin- the man who gets the materials for us- told us, nowhere else is as cheerful as here. Except maybe the towns along the seashore." With a smile, she indicated the dried seaweed hanging from a line off to her right.

"Wow… oh, wait a second!"

Nikkō paused, about to put the pack with the canteens. "Yes?"

With a sheepish grin, Joey reclaimed the pack from her. "I'm sorry- I forgot he was in here-" With a flourish, he pulled out a still-dozing Bob. "I hope you don't mind lizards…"

Nikkō let out a squeal. "I love them!" she said, swooping down and snatching Bob from Joey. "He's perfect! Wait a second-" She positively dashed across the room and gently placed Bob in the middle of a potted fern. He lay peacefully in the dirt. "Excellent," she proclaimed, and headed toward one of the easels. Bemused, Joey followed her, and discovered a half-finished painting of the fern. With quick, deliberate strokes, Nikkō picked up a paintbrush, selected paint that looked like a lumpy grey puddle in a bowl next to her, and began sketching in Bob. Joey was amazed to find that the gross grey stuff worked like a charm.

"Hey, you're good!" He exclaimed after watching her for a while.

"Yes, she is," Peter said, striding into the room. He smiled fondly at Nikkō.

"Let's talk," she said, without looking up. "I can multitask."

Peter looked expectantly at Joey, and he shrugged. "Well- uh- I'm not really sure how much there is to say. I escaped from the prisons-"

"How?" Peter interrupted, and Joey launched into the tale. Even to his own ears, it sounded unbelievable, but Nikkō kept nodding as she worked and Peter always agreed with her.

"So, uh…" Joey wound up, scratching his nose. "I don't really know where I'm gonna go now."

"How do you expect to find your friends?" Nikkō switched paints, wiping her hands carelessly on her robe, and started painting in the details of Bob's face.

"I… don't know," Joey said, feeling deflated. "I really don't know."

"If I were you," Nikkō said, craning her neck to peer at Bob, "I'd get a better disguise. Then I'd go back to the main city. Akuma. Back to the palace."

"Are you serious?" Joey asked doubtfully.

"They'd have the most news there," she said, getting up to gently prod Bob. He slowly opened his eyes and she studied them quickly. "And if any of your friends have been captured, they'd be there. Or… if they've been captured and they're not there, there's not much you can do anyway."

"If they're free?" Joey asked, deciding he'd rather believe that they were.

"Find out everything Marik and Bakura know," Nikkō advised, leaning back to study her work. "Then it's a race. Who can find them first."

"I think you're right," Joey said after a pause. Nikkō put the brush down and got up.

"Either way, it's late," she said, stretching. "We should talk more in the morning."

"You're right," Peter said almost immediately. She smiled fondly at him.

"Okay," Joey said hesitantly, wondering what he should do.

"You can stay here," Peter said, nodding at him. "Nikkō and I have a room next to Sara's, but we usually sleep in this room anyway. There are several cots." He indicated a lump of straw and cloth. "You can have our room."

"All right," Joey said gratefully. "Say- are you brother and sister too?"

"No," Nikkō responded. "Peter and Sara are brother and sister, but I'm not part of the family."

"Not yet," Peter interjected.

She smiled. "Peter and I have been dating a while. When… well, when Marik and Bakura took over the world, we moved in together."

"Oh," Joey said. He lifted a hand to them. "Thanks. Oh- should I bring Bob with me?"

"He's fine in here," Nikkō said, winking. Joey grinned and ducked out of the room.

Their bedroom was easy to find; there was no curtain over it. The two empty single beds, one on each side of the room, tipped him off. He crawled into one of them and was asleep almost instantly.

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Notes: Sara is original. Peter is sort of based off a random guy who only knows me as 'that stalker', and yes I'm kidding. Nikkō is based on my friend Nicole, who some of you might know as Dragon's 1 Girl, co-writer and/or beta of many of my fics.

By the way, at the beginning of this fic I started out with no OCs. By the end as well, most of the OCs will be gone or reestablished, with the exception of… ::counts on fingers:: two, I think. Things kind of come full circle, I suppose.