Disclaimer: Not mine. The original idea is WSJ's.
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Part 1: Separation
Chapter 3: Yami no Bakura: Journey
Yami will be the first to admit that I'm impetuous. I do things without thinking. He does too, especially during duels, but I can't get him to admit that. But anyway, when I left the apartment in the dead of the night, I only had the presence of mind to stuff a few sets of clothes into a duffel bag, snatch the Horus pendant that Ryou gave me for his 50th wedding anniversary, and grab my small hoard of cash from under my mattress.
I stopped to stare at the pendant for a moment, my heart sinking a little. It was Horus's falcon form, wings spread wide. Ryou said that I reminded him of Horus, because I was a vengeful protector, first of the villagers of Kruelna and then of him. Sometimes he even used to call me Ank-Horekte, Brother of Horus, when no one else was around. Sighing, I looped the pendant around my neck and tucked it under my shirt to rest next to the Ring.
Throwing my bag over my shoulder I left the apartment, stalking downstairs. I threw my bag in the back of the car and began to drive. There was a burning desire within me to get to Egypt, no matter the cost. Rationally I knew my small amount of money would never be enough for a plane ticket (like I'd ever trust a metal contraption that weighed more than the pyramids to fly anyway), so I pointed the car to the docks, hoping to book passage to China. I could go overland. I'd lived in the wilderness before, I could do it again.
I had just enough yen to book steerage on a boat to China. I abandoned the car and went for it, figuring it might be my only chance. I spent the entire trip getting sea sick and wondering what the hell I was doing. By the time we hit the docks in China I knew the answer.
I was running from my life, the one I'd spent with Ryou, and was subconsciously driving myself back toward my other life, the one I'd spent in Egypt. To forget one, remember the other, I guess.
So I was in Beijing, didn't speak a word of Chinese, wanted to get to Egypt, had only a few clothes and next to no money. Easy, yes? Ugh, try again. Those months of wandering all over the damn continent were hell. I am not going to rehash it, so don't even ask. I will, however, give you highlights and a few pointers.
Don't ever eat mountain goat. Just... don't. Raw, it's tolerable. Cooked, it's disgusting. And while we're on the Tibetan note, don't stay with monks, even if they do lure you in with food. Most monks are sex-starved and will try to seduce anything that moves. Trust me, I've found out the hard way. However, if you do managed to be dragged off by a crazy monk, you must point over their shoulder and yell "Look, a yeti!" and hope like hell they turn around so you can run.
When in China, do not bathe in the hot springs. I cannot stress this enough. I'm only lucky the Ring warned me of their magical properties before I got in, or I might have been stuck forever as a girl, or something.
Don't go to Korea, either one of them, period. They eat dogs. And cats. And anything that moves. And apparently near-sighed old women think that certain white-haired teenagers look like hamburgers. Ugh, I've never run so fast in my life. Have you ever been stabbed by a fork? Be thankful, I still have the scars.
In India, don't go into a restaurant and order a hamburger. I did not do this, since I had no money. I tried to kill a cow that was just wandering around by itself (I eat raw stuff, remember? And who'd let a cow roam around freely, anyway?!). Apparently, beef is frowned upon in India. So unless you have a death wish, do not order a burger. And don't mention Hathor. Ra, I'm still surprised I managed to survive that beating. Then again, aren't I always ranting about how the damn Ring won't let me die? Well, not dying is very painful, believe me.
Let's see, what else...
Oh, here's a good one. When you're stranded in the Alps (hey, I overshot, okay? I can't read maps!!) and begin to hallucinate, this is bad. When you begin to hallucinate about hikaris that have been dead for months, you're in trouble. When you start to hallucinate about certain pharaohs... Um, let's not go there, shall we? I'm lucky that hiker came along when he did, otherwise I'd probably still be up there.
Then, of course, there's the ever popular Greece. Egypt and Greece were enemies. In my opinion, Cleopatra killed our empire. Then again, that may be just because I'm from "classical" Egyptian times, when we killed our enemies instead of seducing them and then killing them. Can you tell I'm sex-starved? And before you ask, no I was NOT desperate enough to screw the monks. That just would have been creepy.
But, yeah, Greece. They have olives. I do not suggest living for several weeks on a diet of nothing but olives. Ugh, it was not pretty, believe me. Take my advice and steal other food items whenever possible.
So yeah, I got slightly sidetracked, took a couple wrong turns, and it was a year or two before I actually ended up in Egypt. Or I think it was Egypt, anyway. You can't see much though prison bars.
...You're laughing at me, aren't you? I told Yami it was a stupid idea to write down what all we'd been through, because I knew someone would eventually read it, and now you are, and you're laughing at me! I can tell! Quit it!
Okay, okay, if I tell you why I was in an Egyptian prison, will you shut up?
I'll take what I can get. Here's the story:
It was not my fault, first of all. They should have had a sign posted, or something. How was I supposed to know that swimming the Suez Canal was illegal? It wasn't even there in my day! (Oh god, I sounded like Ryou just then.) All I knew was that I had to get to Luxor before I went insane and attempted suicide by jumping in front of a charging camel. The Suez Canal was blocking my path, I am not Moses, there was no bridge, so I swam it.
And there were these nice men in tan uniforms waiting on the other side. I saw the looks on their faces, my mind substituted their Egyptian Army uniforms for those of pharaoh's guards, and... you can probably guess what happened after that. Oops?
So that's how I ended up in an Egyptian prison for five years of my miserable life (apparently Egypt has a really short murder sentence, since if it was any stiffer their population would die out). Pretty pathetic, huh? At least they served regular meals, and after the first two inmates got their teeth knocked out the guards figured out to keep me in a cell by myself. The only hell to pay was the fact that I had to keep the Ring and my Horus pendant hidden, or they would have taken them. That was simple enough, though, once I figured out the proper spell.
So that covers, what, the first seven years after Ryou's death? Or was it eight? I can't really remember. A lot of my wanderings and prison time was spent in this weird mental limbo. I spent a lot of time, especially while I was in prison, just staring at the ceiling and thinking. Mostly about Ryou, sometimes about Yami. I missed them, both of them.
Ryou, for obvious reasons, but it took me a long, long time to figure out why I missed Yami so much. He was the only one I could relate to, sure. He was my rival, and I missed arguing with him, of course. I missed randomly challenging him to duels and getting my ass kicked no matter what we chose to play. I missed that cocky little smirk of his and those damn gorgeous amethyst eyes...
To be frankly honest, I spent half the time in prison mourning over Ryou and debating how to kill myself, a quarter of the time having fantasies about screwing the pharaoh, and the other quarter of the time banging my head against the wall and wondering what the hell I was thinking.
And so passed a delightful five years. Does sarcasm convey well in print? I hope so. Anyway, one day a guard showed up, blinked for awhile about the fact that I didn't look any older, and then let me loose.
Outside I stood blinking in the sunlight and realized I was in Luxor. Home. I had nothing but the clothes on my back. I was alone. I was depressed. But hell, I was Bakura.
I managed to find the old temple of Kruelna still standing, cleared out the vagabonds inside, and declared it my home. I then began thieving again, though only for what I really needed (I had no desire to spend another five years in prison dreaming dreams that would never come to be). I also took to drinking, and promptly lost another ten years.
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Next chapter we find out what Yami's been doing for fifteen odd years. ^^ Chapter five will be angstier, but hopefully not too terribly so, and will be horribly fluffy as well. After that, we're into part 2. I think. If I don't decide to throw in some other random plotline first. ^_~ Til next time!