I don't own Yugioh.
Chapter 20
It took Yugi a week to recover. But finally, they were ready to go. Seto was getting the plane ready, and they were settling in.
"I'll never look at Duel Monsters the same way again," Yugi sighed, looking through his deck.
"…Yugi," Anzu reached into her pocket, pulling out a card, "I want you to take this."
Yugi blinked, taking it and looking at it, "But this…it's the Magician of Faith. Your favorite card, Anzu…"
"I know," Anzu blushed a bit, "But I want you to have it."
"I can't accept…," Yugi started.
"Usually," Seto laughed from the pilot's seat, "When a pretty girl gives you a gift, you don't argue it."
Anzu blushed even more. "I…I'm not pretty…! I'm a tomboy…!"
"You're pretty in your own way," Yugi said absentmindedly.
Anzu blinked. "That…was so sweet, Yugi. Take the card."
"But Anzu…"
"Go ahead," Anzu smiled, pushing it towards him, "It may just help you out." And this way, I can be with you when you duel. So you never forget that, no matter how far away we are, we're still together.
Yugi smiled, and embraced her, "Thank you, Anzu. That's two I owe you!"
"You don't owe me anything," Anzu shook her head.
Yugi smiled.
"You guys gonna sit down and strap in or what?" Seto raised an eyebrow.
They boarded the plane.
It was a quiet ride, actually, as they started to find their way to Brazil.
Yugi was looking out the window, and squinted. He blinked. What was that…? It passed right by the window! Like a hovering shadow! He looked around for it, and saw something looking back at him, floating alongside of the plane. Yugi stiffened in fear, watching it.
The thing resembled the Reaper of the Cards, one of the monsters in Duel Monsters, down to the scythe in its hand.
Someone summoned it! Yugi realized "Yam…!" Before he could finish his sentence, the Reaper sliced down, cutting off one of the wings of the plane.
Seto blinked as they started to spiral around. He struggled to bring the plane around.
"What's go'n on…?!" Jou grabbed onto the seat.
"We've got turbulence," Seto growled.
"More then that," Yugi whispered, "The wing was cut off!"
"What!?" they exclaimed.
"Nonsense…!" Seto started, when the plane bucked again. Just then, a scythe went through the center of the plane, slicing it in half. They could feel the wind pressure as it was hanging by one small beam of metal to the other half.
"Damn, damn, damn!" Jou swore, his eyes wide in fear.
Anzu screamed and gripped onto the seat.
Yami grabbed Yugi, who was shaking and looking around. Seto was still trying to get the plane under control.
"It's the Reaper of the Cards!" Yugi shouted, "Someone could have summoned it!"
"Nobody has that much power to send it so high!" Yami blinked, "That's impossible."
"I hate to burst your bubble," Seto growled, "But it seems like that's not the least of our worries. There's a storm coming up that looks suspiciously like the Dark Hole."
"Aw, shit…!" Jou swore as it hit them, tearing the plane apart and sending them all into the vortex.
"Yami…!" Yugi shouted as his grip weakened.
"Hang on, aibou!" Yami shouted.
They all gripped onto one another's hands.
"Everyone, hang on!" Jou strained.
"I can't…!" Anzu gasped, "I'm slipping!" She slipped from Yami and Jou's grip.
"Anzu…?!" Jou shouted, then felt himself slip, "I can't hang on, guys…!"
"Sorry!" Seto also lost his grip.
"Yugi!"
"Yami!"
Their hands parted as well, and they all flew into the vortex.
* * *
Yugi shivered and woke up. His head hurt a bit, and he felt where a gash had been made above his right eye. He sat up quickly and looked around. He was in some kind of snowy land. He pushed himself to his feet, noticing nothing was broken. He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself and looking around. All he could see was white. A cold wind blew, and he winced, waiting for it to pass.
"Yami…?!" Yugi called, taking a tentative step forward, "…Anzu?! Jou!? Seto!? Are you guys here?!" He trudged along for a while, then saw some blue poking out of the white snow. He ran over to it, and found Yami laying face down in the cold snow.
"Yami?!" Yugi gasped, turning his friend over.
Yami looked just a little scratched up. Other then that, he looked okay. But his lips were turning blue.
Yugi shook him, but realized that his brother was out cold. He slung one of Yami's arms over his shoulder, and started to try to walk with him to find something of a shelter. He stepped on a patch of ice on his first step, and fell over, scraping his hands and face on the ice. He winced, but got back up, taking Yami and starting to limp away, his leg throbbing from the slip.
"Hang in there, Yami," Yugi shivered, "I-I'll get us out of the cold." He slowly trudged through the snow, then yelped when he sunk down to his waist. He was too short to plod through snow like that. In fact, he couldn't even get out. He struggled, but to no avail. He tried to walk through it, but especially when the wind blew, it was no good.
Yugi dug out until his hands were raw and bleeding, and managed to get a little farther through it. He continued to dig and push his way through the snow, pulling Yami behind him. Determination was the only feature visible. He was scared, but he had to save Yami. He was hurt, but it didn't matter if he couldn't help his brother. He was cold, but he felt better with Yami just being there.
Yugi dug more snow out of the way. You've helped me so much, Yami. Now, I'm going to save you! I can! He kept on going until he couldn't dig anymore, his hands too numb to move. He sunk to the ground, breathing hard, and looking up. There was no way he could get out. He put his frozen hand in his pocket, and blinked when he hit his deck. He pulled it out. Oh, yea…! I wonder…can I summon the monsters? For real? Or was before just some fluke of the Shadow Realm? Well, only one way to find out. Please, cards. Help me. Yami's in danger! And I want to help him!
Yugi pulled out a card, concentrating. He could feel the power coming from the card, and felt his own energy being spent. He just smiled, then threw the card out behind him where there was space. It landed in the snow, face up, and sat there.
"Please, Silver Fang!" Yugi begged, "You saved me once before…I really need your help now, or Yami will die! Please, lend me your strength!"
The card just sat there.
Yugi wiped the tears coming from his eyes, "Please, Silver Fang! You saved me before. First in the forest, then against Warumono. Please…please, help me again!" A white glow came from him, and went into the card.
The card started to glow, and suddenly, in a flash of golden white light, instead of the card standing there, it was a magnificent silver wolf.
"Silver Fang!" Yugi ran up and hugged the creature.
The wolf seemed to smile and nod at him.
"Silver Fang," Yugi pleaded, "Can you help me carry Yami to shelter?"
The wolf nodded.
Yugi tried to lift Yami, but was exhausted, and sunk back down. Then, determinedly, he got Yami onto the wolf's back, then got on, himself.
The Silver Fang took off, running through the snow.
It wasn't long until they had reached shelter; a small cave. Yugi thanked the wolf and let it go back to being a card, then sunk to the ground, exhausted. He glanced at Yami and shook himself out of it.
Yugi pushed himself to his feet and stumbled out to find some wood from the trees they had passed so he could make a fire and keep Yami warm. In the meantime, he had the Silver Fang curl up with Yami laying against her side. It was really draining his energy as he started to gather sticks, then bring them back, and go back out.
Yugi was walking back with some more sticks, when he slipped on a patch of ice and stumbled, then tripped over a log. He groaned in pain when he twisted on his ankle. The twigs went flying, and he heard a growl.
Yugi opened his eyes and saw a bear staring at him. Yugi screamed and scrambled up, starting to run. The bear gave chase, but Yugi's right ankle gave out on him, and he fell to the ground, whimpering in fear and pain. He pulled out a card. "I don't know who you are, but please help me somehow!!" Light emanated from his body, and the card responded.
Suddenly, the Celtic Guardian was standing in front of him, sword raised at the bear.
The bear skidded to a halt, but charged.
The Celtic Guardian gave a battle cry, and pushed the bear back as a warning, pulling its sword up. The bear whimpered and ran away.
The Celtic Guardian turned around and faced the pale boy who summoned him.
Yugi nodded at the monster, fighting the urge to pass out. He weakly stood up, and at once, his energy left him. The Celtic Guardian disappeared, and he fell back into the snow. He would have passed out if he didn't remember that the Silver Fang probably disappeared, too. He gritted his teeth and pushed himself up, gathering the remaining sticks and rocks. He then half limped half crawled back to the cave.
Yugi placed the sticks in a pile and arranged the rocks in a circle around them. He coughed, but shook it off and glanced at Yami. Like he had thought, the Silver Fang had vanished. The only thing keeping Yugi himself going was his determination to keep Yami warm. He pulled out a blanket from the backpack that he had been wearing when the plane went down. He placed it over Yami, then searched through his bag.
Flashlight…snacks…games…cloths…band-aids……matches! Yugi pulled them out and struck them, lighting up the sticks. When he had a good fire going, he moved Yami over closer to it, then finally allowed his body to rest, passing out.
Yami groaned and woke up. He coughed a couple of times, realizing that he was probably catching a cold. Speaking of cold…he was aware of a chill, but for the most part, it was warm. He noticed a fire going, and a blanket over him. He looked at it and saw the little wings on the blue cover, meaning it belonged to Yugi. He sat up in the cave, and noticed Yugi laying on his side on the ground nearby, his eyes closed and sweat beading his forehead even though he was shivering.
Yami pulled the blanket off and went over to him, "Yugi!? Yugi!?"
Yugi didn't respond.
Yami made sure he was still breathing, and was relieved to find he was. He swore when he noticed the heat of Yugi's body was abnormal. He noticed that the boy was flushed, and was having trouble breathing.
"Hang in there, Yugi," Yami whispered, holding the boy to him. Tears stung his own eyes. You did all this to save me…didn't you? Started a fire and placed the blanket over me. You saved my life. I'm not going to let you die. Yami placed Yugi by the fire and put the blanket over him. On a second thought, he got under the covers with the boy after dipping a sock in the snow and placing it on Yugi's forehead, creating a cold cloth. Yami wanted to keep watch, but his own cold was weighing heavily on him, and he fell asleep.
Yami woke up when he felt warmth all around him. He frowned. And, there was something soft behind his head as well. He blinked and realized that he was still under the covers. He slowly sat up, wincing from a headache that was building, then coughed.
Yugi glanced up from where he sat by the fire, "Yami! Ohayo! How are you feeling?"
Yami blinked. Yugi looked perfectly fine. Yami shook his head, realizing that somehow, he must have absorbed Yugi's illness into his own body. Though, that did sound a little ridiculous…weirder things had been happening, so he wasn't about to rule it out.
Yugi went over and placed his forearm to Yami's forehead, "Wow…gosh, I'm sorry. I don't have any medicine like Seto does…" He removed his arm.
Yami chuckled, then coughed.
Yugi patted him on the back.
Yami paused when the thing behind him moved a bit. He slowly turned around and was looking into the eyes of the Silver Fang.
"Yami, this is Fang," Yugi introduced the wolf, "Fang, this is my friend, Yami."
I remember Yami. You told me about him. The wolf spoke in their heads.
"Good!" Yugi smiled.
"Aibou…did you summon her…?" Yami blinked.
Yugi gently had Yami lay back down, then handed him some snack bars from his bag, nodding, "Un! I did when I woke up, too. Here…eat some of these. You'll feel better."
"First woke up?" Yami frowned.
Yugi nodded, "Yea. When the plane crashed, and I woke up, I was alone in a snowy field. I found you laying in the snow, and I tried to carry you to a shelter of some sort, but the snow was too deep. So, I called for Fang. She came and helped me get you to shelter. Then, she helped to keep you warm while I looked for sticks to make a fire. And I got chased by a bear, but the Celtic Guardian helped me out. But I lost my energy, and both went back to being cards since I lost concentration. But when I woke up this morning, I felt re-energized and all better. And you felt really hot. You were sweating and you're still flushed. So, I had the Silver Fang summoned, and she spoke to me. I talked to her, and she decided to keep you warm while I started the fire again since it had gone out."
Yami smiled weakly, "Thank you, Yugi…"
"Yami…you've saved my life so many times," Yugi whispered, "I felt…I had to save yours. Not to pay you back…but because I didn't want to lose you."
Yami smiled, "I feel the same way about you, Yugi. I would risk my life to help you."
Yugi smiled, "Thank you…"
"Now…come here," Yami smiled, "I may be sick, but I can still help bandage those hands of yours."
Yugi glanced at his raw and bloody hands, then nodded sheepishly, "I guess I forgot about them…" He winced, "…and my sprained ankle…"
Yami chuckled as the smaller boy came over with the first aid kit.
"This sure brings me back," Yugi sighed, "Memories. Even though the horrible memories of mom and dad beating me…I had you to help me. So it wasn't so bad. And you'd clean me up after every beating, and hug me and assure me that it was going to be alright." Tears ran down Yugi's face, "…and now, it really makes me want to find my real parents. Find what happened to my mother, and if my father survived the dragon's attack."
Yami finished with Yugi's hands, then embraced him, "We'll find them. As soon as we get your grandpa back, we'll find them."
"But…Yami…we may be in Antarctica for all we know…"
Yami shook his head, "It's cold, but not cold enough for us to be that far towards one of the poles of the Earth."
"So…do you know where we are?" Yugi blinked.
"We may be in Canada. In which case, there may be someone who can help us," Yami smiled.
"Great!" Yugi nodded, "Then this afternoon, Fang can carry us towards the scent of humans. Right, Fang? Can you do that for us?"
Yes, Tenko-sama.
Yugi giggled, "Call me 'Yugi'. And you don't have to say 'master'. It sounds weird. I mean, I'm only ten…"
"With the intellect and brains of someone twice your age," Yami smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Yugi laughed, sticking his tongue out at him, "You're just jealous!"
"I'll show you jealous…come here!" Yami pulled the boy down and started to tickle him.
"H-hey…!" Yugi laughed, "S-stop…!"
Yami grinned, "Prepare for my ultimate torture…! Tickling you into submission!"
"I'm subdued! I'm subdued!" Yugi laughed so hard tears rolled down his cheeks.
Finally, Yami stopped, and the two drew apart.
"That was fun," Yugi spoke after a while.
Yami nodded.
The Silver Fang watched in amusement, her tail gently wagging up and down. What silly games you humans play.
Yami and Yugi chuckled.
TO BE CONTINUED…