Kurama & Bakura: ~_~; Help us? Anyone?
WSJ: =3 *pokes Kurama* Disclaimer!
Kurama: WSJ does not own YGO or YYH in any way, shape, or form. She wishes, but thank kami she doesn't.
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Like a Thief in the Night
Part One: Thieves of Makai
Chapter 2 -- In the Wilderness
"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."
~(Charles du Bois)
Kurama and Bakura moved silently out of the town, and then by a shared look of mutual concent, morphed into their swifter animal forms. Soon silver kitsune and white wolf ran together through the woods, dodging easily in and around trees and, when necessary, leaping over each other. If anyone noticed their passing, it was only as a pair of pale streaks against the darkness of the forest.
Now, here an intresting note must be made about the weapons of these two particular demons. Both had the power to manipulate plants, and carried seeds of several varieties in their long hair. But Bakura used a sword as well. In human form, it was buckled securely around his waist. When he morphed into wolf form, the scabbard twisted around until it rested across his back, the belt going over one shoulder as if it were a bandolier. Their clothes, peculiarly enough, morphed with them, melting into the fur on their bodies and then back into clothes whenever they changed.
They made camp that night by the river Koto had mentioned, and managed to get a rare treat.
"Fish!" Kurama said joyfully, dancing a short jig by the river. "It's been so long since we've had fish! Always rabbits, rabbits, rabbits, and maybe a quail or two." he made a face. "Stupid rabbits."
"Hey, I happen to like rabbit," Bakura said from where he was trying to fan a small fire into existance. "But you're right, after days on end it tends to wear thin. So fetch a fishie!" Kurama grinned and nodded, changing into his fox form and wading into the river.
They weren't usually this silly, and certainly not when anyone was around to see, but they could already feel the power of the Sennen Ankh, radiating out of the forest ahead of them. Koto had been correct about the location of the Ankh Shrine. The expectation of the hunt, of the heist, was already going to the thieves' heads, making them drunk with sheer anticipation. Of course, by the time they were ready to move in on their target, all trace of levity would be gone, and the demons would be cool and calculating once again.
After dining on fish and a brief, restless sleep, they were on the move again before sunrise. It took them the better part of the day to get through the forest, but as the sun was getting ready to set, Bakura and Kurama crouched in the bushes, watching the Ankh Shrine with bright, glittering eyes.
The shrine was made of white limestone and a grayish-green marble, almost three stories high. It was built in the style of an Egyptian temple, a design Bakura knew well. There was no front door, simply an entry hall, but they counted four guards with swords and bows patroling the outside. There were bound to be more inside. From their uniforms, they were in the employ of King Enma, or at least his son Koenma.
Kurama and Bakura had done plenty of checking into the Sennen Items, and knew exactly what to expect for each. The seven Sennen Items were under maximum security, each in their own way, especially the ones in Makai.
The Ankh was enshrined under guard and ward in the deepest, darkest forest in Makai. The Scales, Rod, and Tauk were hidden away, hidden so far away and so well that only King Enma and two chosen family lines knew of their whereabouts. Not even the diligent searching of Kurama and Bakura had turned up their locations. The Eye was said to be in the hands of a ningen businessman named Drake Crawford, for all the good such rumors would do. The Ring was sealed in a cave that was said to be guarded by a demonic monster of untold power. The Puzzle, supposedly the strongest of all, was held by a shadowy demon loyal to King Enma and his son. It was whispered in dark corners that this demon man had been one of the priests who helped create the Sennen Items in the first place. Some even dared whisper that he had been the pharaoh.
"The guards are mere C class," Kurama whispered in obvious disdain. His sharp, demon eyes could easily see the power level of the guards, though he need not have said it aloud. Bakura could see just as well as him. "Does Koenma think we're joking? He has to know we're going after the Items by now, with all the hints we've dropped in his spies' hearing!"
"Yes," Bakura agreed flattly. "He probably just doesn't think we'd ever dare. A pity about the guards, though," he sighed. "I was looking forward to a nice challenge, for once."
Kurama shrugged one shoulder, his fuzzy ears flicking back and forth to catch every sound. "Better than nothing."
"Indeed," Bakura agreed. "Come on, then."
The two crept forward through the brush, silent as mice. They waited until one of the guards closest to them had his back turned, and then Kurama lept, his claws fully extended and slashing. Bakura had already drawn his sword, and quickly followed his partner. With twin yells, claws and sword struck at the same time, and the guard slowly toppled, quite dead. The other guards spun, one having enough wits to draw his sword. He and Bakura clashed briefly, but the guardsman, demon or not, stood no chance.
Several more guards poured out of the interrior of the temple, and the fight was on. It was short, all things considered. Bakura's sword shown red under the setting sun by the time it had ended, and Kurama was licking the blood from his fingers with dexterity a cat would have envied. As he yanked his blade out of the last of the guards, Bakura glanced almost casually at the lone man who was running as fast as he could toward the treeline. Brushing a hand through his long hair, Bakura dislodged one of his seeds from where it lay rooted just under the skin at the back of his neck. Hardly bothering to aim, he flicked it at the fleeing guard. The guardsman stumbled as the tiny seed imbedded itself in the center of his back, but he kept running. "Oh look, someone's going to tattle to Koenma."
Kurama chuckled and cracked his knuckles. "And then he'll die a mysterious death. Yay."
Glancing around at the guards that lay at his feet, Bakura bent down to wipe off his sword on one of their uniforms before sheathing it again. He nodded to his kitsune partner, and together they picked their way across the bloody field toward the temple. They didn't bother to be careful. If any demons were left alive or hiding in the shadows of the shrine, Kurama and Bakura would sense them long before they dared attack the thieves.
The entry hall lay mostly in shadow due to the dying dusk, but in a far corner there was the faint glimmer of a golden door. Grabbing a torch that hung on a pillar near the door, Bakura started forward, with Kurama at his heels. The fox was forced to come up short, however, when Bakura didn't open the door, but instead stood still and seemed to be looking over the strange writing that had been etched into the gold of the door. "....Sealed away, until the chosen bearer doth come for it...." he muttered, mostly to himself. "This is a curse. No one except the one Chosen or the pharaoh himself can enter this room without being struck down."
"You can actually read that junk?" Kurama asked in surprise, leaning around Bakura to squint at the spidery writing.
Bakura shot him a semi-glare. "Indeed. This is ancient Egyptian hieratic, a form of shorthand hieroglyphics used by priests. Not as well known and not nearly as easily decyphered as hieroglyphics, but I can read them just as well. Anyway, all that's on this door is stuff I've known for a few thousand years anyway."
Kurama frowned at him and crossed his arms. "You sure know a lot about ancient Egyptian curses, and you never have told me exactly how old you are..." his gaze was obviously suspicious.
Bakura chuckled darkly and stepped back from the door. "I've always been a thief and always will be, just know that, boy. I did live in Egypt for awhile when I was younger, right around the time these bloody Items were created, in fact. That's where I learned of them. It's not my place to take the Ankh, it's yours. I've known that for the past thousand years, since I first laid eyes on you in your cradle. Besides," he added quietly, half to himself. "It's the Ring that knows my hand..."
Kurama shot him a surprised look. "What-?"
"Go fetch it, fox," Bakura said roughly, shoving the torch toward Kurama. "My past is none of your business."
Kurama scowled, but did as he was bid and took the light. Stepping forward, he cautiously pushed open the door, hoping for the stupid wolf's sake that he wouldn't get incinerated or something. Beyond lay a circular room lit with torches, the ceiling held by tall stone columns much wider than Kurama could reach around. In the center of the room stood a stone alter about waist high, rimmed in gold. While the room and columns were the same marble as the rest of the shrine, the alter was made of coal black obsidian.
Stepping warily forward, his eyes darting around for any sign of attack, Kurama approached the alter. In the center of the top was a recessed area, in which lay the object that they sought. The Sennen Ankh gleamed slightly in the fire light, its leather cord coiled around its neck. Kurama glanced over his shoulder to see Bakura silhoetted in the doorway, a blur of white and gray against the black night. Bakura urged him forward, and Kurama turned back to his prize. Swallowing compulsively, he reached out one finger to lightly brush the gold of the Ankh, and then he flinched away. Nothing seemed to happen, so Kurama took hold of the Item and pulled it from its alter. The hole where it had rested burst forth with a beam of silver light, but it dissipated in less than a second.
Quickly Kurama retreated back to where Bakura stood. The older thief nodded, calmly, his face a set mask, but Kurama was pleased to see the approval in the older thief's eyes. Handing the torch back to the wolf, Kurama quickly untied the leather cord the Ankh hung from, and draped it around his neck. There was a second of intence pain, as if the cord were biting into him, and he gasped in surprise. But as soon as it had come it vanished, and Bakura was tugging on his arm. "Come, let's go. We need to be far from here when Koenma hears what our little doomed messenger has to say."
Nothing else was said until they were safe in the forest, making ready to transform back into their animal guises. "Bakura," Kurama said hesitantly. "How did you know that the Ankh wouldn't kill me for being unworthy? How did you know I was the one?"
Bakura looked at him for a long time, his brown eyes deepening to almost black in the nighttime forest. "I've known since I first saw you," he repeated crypticly. "You're my kin. Why do you think I saved you when your parents were slaughtered?"
Kurama growled as Bakura's words brought to life an old wound. He'd been so young when they died... "He was your father too!" the fox snapped, his fists clenching, the Ankh swinging from its cord around his neck.
A moment later Kurama found himself flat on the ground, Bakura's full weight on top of him. The older thief snarled, his eyes narrowing. "Silvanus was not my father!"
"Deny it if you like." Kurama answered, his own golden eyes narrowing to slits. "He was your sire. Pretend all you want, but you are part earth spirit, as am I. You control and manipulate the plants and the flowers, like I. You can pretend, and you can ignore, but it won't change the fact."
Bakura growled, but got off Kurama, turning his back on the younger demon. "It may not change it, but it sure makes me feel a hell of a lot better when I think that I couldn't save him..."
"You saved me," Kurama said softly.
"Damnit, of course I did!" Bakura snapped. "Silvanus left me when I was barely five. Mother didn't even tell me he was my father until I was nearly a hundred. I never saw him except on wanted posters! No kin of mine would grow up fatherless if I could help it."
Kurama smirked at his back as he got to his feet, brushing leaves out of his tail. "You're not a good father, just so you know."
Bakura rolled his eyes and turned to face him. "Oh, gee, thanks."
"But you're one hell of a brother!"
Bakura smirked. "That's better. Now come on, we're headed south. It's time to reclaim something that was once mine."
The two shifted into their animal forms, the Ankh jangling around Kurama's neck, and then they lept away into the forest, heading due south. Both felt something watching them, but neither mentioned it. It wouldn't have mattered if they had.
The forest had eyes.
The Hunter was on the prowl.
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WSJ: :p Well. Now you know how Kurama and Bakura are related. Half-brothers. *grin* Same father, different mothers. This is bound to have repercussions. Ooooh, and the Hunter's coming! ^^ Stay tuned! Big action coming right up!
God bless minna-san!