(A/N: Woo! Thanks to all of you for the awesome reviews; I'm talking to lilmatchgirl007, DaimerymanRei, and of course, Sirithiliel and darkmetaldragonfangs. What I'd do without all of you, I don't know... BTW, if any of you were wondering, 261 is the real area code for Madagascar... yes, I'm that much of a loser, thank you very much!)

Chapter 8: Windy Village

Yami no Malik stood high upon on outcrop of rocks, the wind whistling and swirling around him. It hadn't stopped blowing since he'd slunk off that boat, and he was quite certain he had been rendered half-deaf by it.

Pushing the hair out of his eyes for what must have been the millionth time, he heaved a sigh and looked around again. There wasn't much to look at; below him sprawled a small fishing village, with a half-decent port and semi-large city in the distance. He'd either needed to get a ride somehow or brave these highlands to get to that city.

Seeing as he didn't look all that inconspicuous he'd checked his reflection in the lapping sea-water; his appearance hadn't changed from normal and that was not necessarily a good thing, he decided to take the rocks. They were easier to navigate than they'd looked from below, but it had taken him a good two hours or so to get where he was.

He hadn't thought of food earlier, and now he wished he had; he was desperately hungry and found himself wishing for some sort of sustenance. Why hadn't he stolen something before he'd scaled half the damn rocks? True, he'd made it to a sort of moor, but it didn't go on flat for very long. He needed to get higher for the truest of level grounds.

There were absolutely no trees in sight whatsoever, so the possibility of finding some sort of fruit was next to impossible. And what was worse, thick grey clouds were rolling in and air smelt thickly of moss and salt-water, making him feel rather sick to his stomach. He hated this.

There was loud boom of thunder, and the first drops of rain started to fall.

A lot.

Interlude 8.1 Launceston

All around her was the sea; before her, behind her, to her left, to her right. It was very belittling. It also provided ample time to think. There wasn't much else to do. She'd been on this boat for three hours and, according to the frequent PA announcements, there were another two of travelling before they arrived at their destination.

Nonetheless, Isis was glad she'd managed to get on this ferry sailing from Launceston to Melbourne. At least she'd be in Australia then, and she could figure out some way to get back to Japan. She'd been thinking of returning immediately to Egypt –she'd been thinking of a lot of things, actually- but she had no idea where her brother or Rishid were, and the only place she could think of was Domino City. It was the last place she'd seen them all, so didn't it make sense they'd be there?

Not at all. She was in Launceston.

Isis sighed; how in the name of Ra would they be able to find each other if they were scattered all over the world? She could only hope that those she cared about were well and also trying to return to Japan. It would depend on where they were.

She worried for Rishid. He may have done many things with Malik, and travelled far with her brother, but he didn't have an easily-concealed oddity, as Malik did, nor did he have much of the cunning of her younger brother. Not to say he was stupid, but he wasn't entirely experienced with all the people of the world. And that worried her.

She worried for the others. If she had been spewed to Tasmania, what had happened to the others? Had they too been launched somewhere beyond belief? What if some of them had died? Not knowing these things nearly drove her to madness.

Most of all, she worried for her brother. Oh, she knew he was entirely capable of taking care of himself, and that was what troubled her. If he decided he was so capable, he might stay wherever he was, and they'd never find each other. That would be... awful; she'd spent so many years searching for her brother, and when she'd found him, he'd been a vengeful madman obsessed with a single murder and the taking over of the world! Well, perhaps that was exaggerating slightly, but it did put things to term. He hadn't been the brother she remembered; the brother she'd been searching for. That was frustrating as well and concerning. If he never came back, perhaps she'd never find the same brother she'd lost so long ago.

To be sure, he'd never be the same. Things had changed the day he'd had the Pharaoh's secret carved into his back, the day she'd received the Millenium Key, the day their father had died... Time couldn't be turned backwards. They could never go back to the way it had been. But she was willing to accept that... if she could have Malik back. Malik, and not the compulsive teenager she'd found in Domino. She understood he'd spawned a second half but still... she couldn't help wishing...

She sighed and wrapped her arms around herself; the wind had picked up and she was finding it rather chilly out here on deck. She turned to head inside and found herself facing a rather oddly-dressed man grinning at her widely. He was wearing an off-white button-up shirt that was hanging loose above bright red denim shorts and he had a tie for a belt. She was about to dismiss him as crazy when he said, quite legibly, "What's a beauty like you doing out here all alone?"

So he wasn't crazy; he was a creep. Coldly, she replied, "I believe that's none of your business."

"I'll make it my business, then." He said cheerily, though underlying it was a dark tone. Isis put herself on guard. This man was not safe.

"I'm quite fine on my own. I'm meeting someone at the port in Melbourne." Isis tried again to rid herself of him, telling a white lie.

"Oh, are you?" He said with another wide grin, "My mistake, then. I'd love to meet her."

Isis didn't know exactly what he was implying, but she really didn't like it, "I don't believe you understand me. I'm meeting someone I haven't seen in quite a while, and I don't think he'd like it if you disturbed me."

"Mmm. Well, I'll see you around lady." The man said and shuffled off.

Isis shuddered and went inside. She didn't trust that man.

Location: Tver

Bakura woke up to the sound of mewing somewhere around his ankles. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, seeing Kinfen's glowing eyes peering at him from the other end of the couch. Apparently the cat didn't take kindly to his stealing the most comfortable sleeping place in the house.

Bakura pulled his knees up to his chest, leaving a good half of the couch available to the animal. Kinfen purred and curled up on the last cushion of the couch, closing his eyes and falling straight to sleep. Bakura sighed; he hadn't angered the cat. That was a good thing. A very good thing.

He pulled the blanket off himself and stood up, looking around the living room where he'd spent the night. This was that woman's house, Raiza. And if he wasn't mistaken, he could hear her moving around upstairs.

Bakura wandered around in sock feet until he remembered where the kitchen was; in he headed, looking in the fridge for something to eat. It was still dark out, but he was hungry. He had no idea what time it was.

"Early day food not in fridge."

Bakura whirled around to see Raiza standing in the doorway, dressed smartly and smiling at him. He narrowed his eyes.

"Where is it then?" He demanded.

"Cupboard." Raiza replied, going to it and opening it. She passed him a box of cereal and a bowl, then took out a bowl for herself. Bakura poured cereal into the bowl, got the milk from the fridge and filled it to the top, then began to eat. The two of them spent half the meal in silence before Bakura asked, "Where are you going?"

Raiza looked up, confused, "What you mean?"

He indicated her clothing.

"Oh! I have work."

"Where?" Bakura wasn't really interested, but he'd not heard of any workplace where you had to dress so nicely that wasn't somewhat powerful. And power was interesting.

"Nuclear plant."

Bakura nearly choked, "What?"

Raiza shrugged, "Work. Nuclear plant. Not big deal. Boring."

Bakura's eyes went wide. She worked at a nuclear plant? A nuclear plant! How much more power could you pack into one building? "Can I go with you?"

Raiza looked critically at him, then said, "I not think so. Security not nice."

"Please?" He hated that word, but this was a nuclear plant they were talking about... And a Russian one, to boot.

Raiza looked at him again, sighing, "Alright. But I not sure they let you in. You come. If say no, you not come again."

Bakura nodded, thinking how very excellent this could be. A nuclear plant, honestly, was he becoming lucky?