Sakakku
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/Wassup?/ = Ryou to Bakura
Duuude… = Bakura to Ryou
Ignore my, er… 'creative' examples. I was having a 'poke fun at slang' day.
This is a Ryou-centric chapter! With other cameos. Hope you enjoy.
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Chapter 13
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Ryou was reading a genealogy. Boring, stuffy, long, and going into far too much detail, but at least it was there. It was something to occupy the vast amounts of time he wasted daily. In fact, there were at least thirty other genealogies lined up in the small bookshelf in his quarters, for when he finished this one.
When the door creaked open, he didn't bother to look up. Malik's room was next to him on the right, and this noise was coming from the left, meaning it was probably just the Rare Hunters bringing him a meal. They were a few hours early for dinner, but he ignored that. Until, that is, he heard Bakura's snappish voice.
"Ryou!"
Shocked and scared, Ryou squeaked and spun around fast in the chair, nearly falling out. He cursed whatever weakness caused this to happen whenever Bakura walked in.
His yami was standing a few feet in the room, dressed in robes of silken black and looking impressive. There were two Rare Hunters standing in the room on either side of the door and Ryou was willing to bet there were more outside.
Standing in Bakura's shadow, at his right elbow, was a girl Ryou had never seen before. He didn't think she was a Rare Hunter; for one, she wasn't dressed in the normal garb. She wore olive-colored robes. The robes had a hood, but it was pushed back; her hair was half-done in braids and the rest was hanging loose. Simple laced sandals adorned her feet and the robe was tied around her waist with a length of rope. Her head was down and Ryou couldn't see her eyes.
"Stand up, hikari," Bakura commanded, and Ryou quickly rose to his feet. The white-haired man grinned, his sharp teeth showing. "This is Kaya. Say hello to her, Ryou."
"Hello, Kaya," Ryou said automatically, flushing with anger. Anger at himself, for letting Bakura do this to him.
Bakura made a half-turn and gripped the girl's arm. "Say hello to Ryou," he said, his tone sharp.
Kaya looked up and Ryou got a glimpse of clouded brown eyes. "Hello, Ryou," the girl said coldly.
"Kaya will be… making some improvements to these quarters," Bakura said, grinning as if he found something funny. "Go on, girl." He gave her a shove in the back and she stumbled forward.
Ryou eyed her apprehensively as she hesitated. Bakura, whose patience was limited, waited about two seconds before snapping "Go!"
Lifting her head, Kaya crossed the room. With a sinking heart, Ryou realized she was headed towards the door that connected his room with Malik's. She placed a hand gingerly on the knob, then clenched harder.
When she started to mutter some foreign words, Ryou lost it. "No!" he shrieked, trying to lunge forward, but Bakura made a waving motion with his hand and the Rare Hunters leapt up to restrain him. "Don't," he pleaded, twisting to look at Bakura. "Malik's my friend! I need the company!"
Bakura laughed jovially, and Ryou felt cold chills crawl up his spine. "Don't be silly," Bakura said. "Be grateful I'm allowing you to live."
"I'd rather die than spend my life quartered off and alone, watching you ruin people's lives!" Ryou screeched before he realized what he was saying. A silence fell upon the room as Kaya finished her incantation. She stepped away from the door, carefully wiping her hands on her robe.
"Let's see how you've done," Bakura said, choosing to ignore Ryou's outburst. He crossed the room swiftly and put his hand on the doorknob. He rattled it once, twice. Furrowing his brow, he stepped back and the Millennium Ring began to glow. After a moment, he moved forward and tried the door again. It didn't budge.
"Well," he said, seeming slightly startled, "Ryou won't be able to open it." Something seemed to flash in Kaya's eyes, but she merely lowered her head again.
Bakura paused for a few seconds, looking back and forth between the submissive Kaya and the defeated Ryou. "Kaya will be back tomorrow to take care of the windows," Bakura informed his hikari. "And her brother Geoff is working on Malik's side- what has gotten into you, girl?"
Kaya had made a funny choking noise, but she stopped immediately. "Nothing," she murmured.
"Excuse me?" Bakura smirked, waiting expectantly.
Kaya set her jaw. "Nothing, sir," she said firmly.
"That's better." Smug in his victory, Bakura swung around and stalked out the door.
When he was alone again, Ryou dragged himself over to the door Kaya had somehow magically sealed. "Malik?" he tried to call through it. No answer. He pressed his ear to the cold wood, but couldn't hear a thing. He stayed like that until the Rare Hunters brought him dinner, hoping against hope.
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"Are you a magician?"
Kaya didn't answer him. She was standing with her back to him, both hands pressed against the window. She'd been that way for the last fifteen minutes, originally mumbling foreign words again but gradually fell silent. Ryou wondered why it was taking her so much longer to do this that the door. Deciding that he didn't have anything to lose, he voiced his question.
"Because," Kaya snapped, not turning her head, "I'm using the window as a base to weave magic through all the walls of this room. It's a lot more complicated than when I did your door."
"Oh." Ryou watched her back a while longer. Her hair was mostly brown, but she had an interesting mixture of gold, red, and grey highlights. She was probably about a year younger than he was, though; he wasn't sure where the grey had come from.
He restated his previous question: "Are you a magician?"
"Of sorts," Kaya said flatly. "My mother was a very skilled magician and healer. She was teaching my brother and me her trade before I came here. Everything I know, I learned from her, but my training was never finished." She didn't offer a further explanation, so Ryou hesitantly asked,
"Why is that?"
"My mother is dead."
It was said with such little emotion that Ryou didn't comprehend it at first. "Oh!" he said, eyes growing large. "I'm so sorry!"
Kaya snorted. "I don't doubt it," she said acidly, "seeing as it was your… your… your 'other half' that killed her."
No…
/BAKURA!!!!/
Ryou, I believe I shall kill you the next time you do that to me
/Bakura, what happened to Kaya's mother?/
Wretched woman. Quite disagreeable
/Kaya said you killed her!/
She has no motive to lie
/You murdered her?/
Really, Ryou, how many times must we go over this?
/You MURDERED her?/
Stop this useless behavior. She got in my way and I disposed of her. Kaya and Geoff are quite nice substitutes; I had no further use for their mother
Recklessly, Ryou pushed his way into Bakura's mind. Before his yami realized what was going on, he was in, and surfing through old memories.
He found Kaya quickly. Judging by her appearance, this was only a few weeks ago. Through Bakura's eyes, he watched as a group of Rare Hunters broke into a small, tidy-looking cottage on the edge of a village. Though he doubted his yami had actually been on the raid, Bakura had been able to see the entire incident through the combined powers of the Millennium Items; in particular the Eye. And now Ryou could see it through Bakura's mind.
Kaya was knocked unconscious by a Duel Monster the first Rare Hunter immediately Summoned from the Shadow Realm. Ryou vaguely recognized it; he thought it was Hitotsu-Me Giant. The other two inhabitants of the cottage were a boy Kaya's age- probably her brother Geoff, and a middle-aged woman. Geoff, a sturdy-looking boy with simple brown hair cut in a cap and a tan much darker than his sister's, froze at the intrusion of the Rare Hunters.
The woman, on the other hand, leapt up. Their mother had grey hair that curled down to her shoulders and a no-nonsense expression. She'd been holding a sprig of some type of plant in her hand, and now she lifted that up and began chanting loudly. The first wave of Rare Hunters stopped inexplicably, and started to clutch their bodies as if in pain.
But a flash of silver shot by the woman, and she toppled to the ground. Cyber Falcon swooped the room before landing on the ground next to the Rare Hunter that Summoned it. The same Rare Hunter strode forward and dealt a swift blow to Geoff's head; the boy fell unconscious as well.
Images flew by, and Ryou saw the family in the dungeons now. They were all in separate cells. Kaya and Geoff seemed to be overlooked for the time being; the Rare Hunters were focused on questioning the woman. She was defiant, though; if she wasn't refusing to talk to them it was because she was making threats.
Eventually, Ryou saw Marik, holding the Millennium Rod deliberately, approaching her cell. Knowing what would come, the woman solemnly raised her head, exposing the length of throat…
With a resounding slam and an infuriated roar, Bakura shoved Ryou from his mind and closed the mindlink. Dazed, sick to his stomach, and on the verge of tears, he stood silently for a while. Kaya seemed to be absorbed in whatever magic she was working.
They were alone in the room; no Rare Hunters had accompanied her this time. Doubtless they assumed that Kaya didn't need any assistance.
"Why did they kill her?" Ryou found himself whispering.
Kaya flinched, and answered harshly. "Because they knew she'd never agree to this!"
"To… to what?"
"To this." Kaya finally turned her head to look at him, and he saw how bitter her eyes were. "To working for Marik and Bakura! To helping imprison people! To not fighting."
Ryou gazed at the window, seeing black tendons creeping across it. "Why are you agreeing to this?" he asked in a soft voice.
"Because…" Kaya's voice caught, and Ryou realized she was on the verge of tears. "Because they told me I'd never see my brother again if I didn't."
"Geoff?"
"That's right." She closed her eyes, seemingly determined not to cry, but the act caused a tear to slip down her cheek. But when she opened her eyes again, they were hardened. "I haven't seen him in three weeks. For all I know he could be dead too."
This proclamation startled Ryou. "I…" he began, but stopped. Shaking his head, he said, "Marik was the one to kill your mother."
When her eyes widened in shock, and her hands began to slip from the window, he hastily added, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It's just… I thought it might help." Her brow narrowed menacingly, and he continued, "I think it's supposed to be an honor. To be killed by him personally. He, uh… he used the Millennium Rod."
"They couldn't have killed her without it," Kaya declared, stepping away from the window. "She was too powerful to be killed without magic."
"I'm sorry," Ryou said again. She didn't pay attention to him and swept out the door, locking it manually behind her.
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Kaya was back the next day. And the day after. And the day after.
She didn't seem interested in talking to him, but through prodding he discovered that he was part of her 'rounds'. Bakura and Marik had taken her and Geoff in the first place to put up new, magical seals on all the prisons. The dungeons first, which had taken time, and then the private rooms. Like his. And Malik's.
Her rounds involved simply sweeping a hand over the walls, paying particular attention to the window and to the door that had once connected his rooms with Malik's. It was brief, not nearly enough time for him to question her. He was burning to know why Bakura and Marik had suddenly taken so many precautions in tightening security. Had someone escaped?
But Kaya was picky about which questions she answered. Most of the time, she ignored him.