Disclaimer: If it were mine, Anzu and Atemu would have gotten it together after their first date. 'Nuff said.
o0O0o
Hello again!
I am now officially fourteen years old, as for age we go by the yearly flooding of the Nile River. Mana is thirteen, a year younger than I. Ah yes, and dear Seto is sixteen. What I find unfair is that he is the width of a papyrus scroll taller than me. That doesn't seem right. (A/N: Okay people, their papyrus scrolls are going to be a foot wide, so whenever he says 'the width of a papyrus scroll tall,' he means a foot tall. Kk?)
Oh, and speaking of Seto, I caught him at something yesterday night that I can assure you he wished to keep a secret. I shall start at the beginning, and I know you will find what I am going to describe both a bit unsettling and highly amusing. At least, it surprised ME greatly.
Yesterday, the whole of Egypt engaged in or wonderful annual festivities to celebrate the ending of the Nile flooding, and to thank the great gods who who watch over us and gave us this land of Egypt, the "Gift of the Nile." That it is! I love these celebrations! Villagers play music, dance, sell food and play games out in the streets, and it is some of the best fun you could ever have!
Something I also love about this is that Father allows his family, High Priests(and Priestess), and Shimon to dress as commoners and join the celebration. In other words, I don't need to sneak out of the palace to have fun; I'm actually ALLOWED out. This is a rarity, and is not to be wasted.
So, dressed in plain trousers and a linen shirt and over that a cloak with a wide hood(to hide all my hair), I spent nearly the entirety of the daylight hours playing games. Some villagers had gotten together and set up a gaming street of sorts, and I played everything. There's just something about a good game that makes my heart pound and my head spin, so you can imagine how I felt, playing the day away in that street. Senet, Serpent, fighting, foot racing, everything! But best of all, a dueling field etched in the road. An old man stood on one side. "Does anyone dare challenge me?" Apparently he was some local legend, because as one the crowd backed away.
Duels were meant to be fought, not watched, hence the word 'duel.' I stepped forward into the ring.
"Ah, and who have we here?" he asked, throwing over to me a wooden version of the golden dueling wing I used during royal duels. I caught it and snapped its clamp over my left arm, replying, "That is for me to know. Duel."
So we dueled. The old man's tactics reminded me very much of Seto's; he seemed to think worthy of his use only monsters of great attacking power. I pitied him. At least Seto has abilities that even I admit are extraordinary with strategy and timing, which this man did not. I took down a knight of his with a spellcaster, and by using magic to turn my Holy Elf's good defense power into more attack strength, I blew away his last monster and won the duel. Needless to say, my opponent was none too pleased.
After that I decided to take a break and get something to eat. I wandered around a bit until I came upon a woman selling hot bread slathered in a thick fruity jelly and bought a piece, paying a copper coin and continuing my aimless walk. I ended up on the banks of the Nile.
Suddenly I heard something, a high-pitched screech coming from a spot not far from me. I turned my head in every direction to try to find the owner of the voice, but dark was falling and a shadow rested over my eyes from the wide hood of my cloak.
"Aiieee! HELP!" It was coming from farther down the bank, to my left. I stood and began running in that direction. I yelled, "Keep talking! Where are you?"
"OVER HERE! HELP!" It was a female's voice. I tweaked my direction a bit and ran through some cattails, stepping out into a small, hidden lagoon not ten papyrus scroll widths wide, the water surely not more than three deep.
I heard splashes to my right and turned to face a horrible sight. A girl about my own age lay on the bank of the lagoon, blood gushing from huge cuts in her arm. Over her loomed a Nile crocodile. Her eyes widened as it drew closer, snarling. My breath caught in my throat and I knew there was only one way to save this girl; I had to kill the crocodile. So I did, by shooting it with an arrow of black shadow magic. It disappeared and I ran to the girl.
"D-Did you just kill it?"
"Yes. It's gone," I replied as she winced and moaned, grabbing her left arm with her right hand. Tears welled in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks.
"Let me see your arm," I instructed. She complied, and I tore a long strip of cloth from within the hem of my cloak. Dipping one end in the lagoon water, I wiped the drying blood from her arm, then wrapped the cloth around said bloodied arm, tying the two ends securely.
"Where do you live? You need to go home to get this properly tended to."
"T-The south side of the village. Near the street where they're doing the kaa monster dancing."
Kaa monster dancing. Another reason why I wish so badly for my kaa monster to show itself. Whole streets could make up a kaa monster dancing floor. You summon your kaa monster, and whoever is in charge of the dance pairs you with someone whose kaa is similar, well fitting to yours. For example, an afterlife-representing kaa and an underworld-representing kaa would create balance. That makes the dancing to follow absolutely amazing, or so I've been told by a certain High Priestess, a certain four-foot, eight-inch tall trusted friend/adviser to the Pharaoh, and a certain High Priest/Magician and his apprentice, who nearly got paired together once because of their similar kaa. THAT was a highly amusing scene!
I carried the weak girl back to her part of the village as the moon shone brightly, reflected on the Nile's surface.
"This one," she said, pointing to the modest home before us. I set her down on her feet and she entered, thanking me.
I decided to watch the kaa dancing. The couples' feet paced rhythmically on the ground as kaa monsters floated aimlessly around in the night air above. Even some of the monsters themselves were dancing(or attempting to) or flirting, which I found hilarious. Two dragons in particular caught my eye. It looked as if a male Red-Eyes Black Dragon was trying to court a female Blue-Eyes White Dragon. I chortled as the Blue-Eyes performed the draconic equivalent of a curtsy and the Red-Eyes bowed, the two extremely rare kaa monsters now beginning to 'dance.'
... Extremely rare... There's only one person in all of Egypt with Red-Eyes kaa... Seto! Seto? Dancing? I had to see if it was really true! My eyes sought out the truth- and found it!
Right in the middle of the street I recognized Seto. He was dressed as a commoner in robes of white linen, but if you know those eyes like I do, it's impossible to mistake his identity.
The tempo the music had taken on was one that was a bit more quiet, yet very heated, and a drifting melody wafted through the air. Seto and his partner, a with with white skin and pale blue hair, changed their position a bit without even talking. A lull came in the music and many couples used the opportunity to adjust their various positions. Seto's eyes were literally glowing as he placed his hands lightly on her waist, and I noticed that his face was flushed. The pale(Even in the dark, you could tell that her skin was chalk-white!) girl placed her left hand on Seto's right shoulder and her right hand on his chest, right under the collar bone, and closed her eyes, bringing her head down to rest on his left shoulder.
They moved smoothly to the tune that was so soft, yet so full of passion, passion that I saw reflected in Seto's eyes as he lowered his face to nuzzle the girl's. She smiled and returned the gesture as the beat of the music picked up a bit.
They whirled around and he slipped his hand around one of her wrists, flinging her outwards and then pulling her back in towards him, her back nearly touching his chest. He gently placed his hands on her hips and she placed her smaller, slender ones over his. They figured out a beat to set their steps to and she leaned her head back to rest between his collar bone and chin, and he kissed the top of her head.
She turned back to face him as the tune's pace cooled back to a slow, steady beat, and wrapped her arms around his neck, he hugging her tightly around the waist as they continued to ease their way through the music, creating their own movements as they went along. After a few more such minutes the music stopped, the villagers playing instruments taking a short rest. Seto and the girl stood there, just staring into each other's eyes, glazed expressions on each of their faces. Then Seto leaned slowly towards her and kissed her pink lips. She returned his kiss, and soon, well... let's just say that half the saliva in Seto's mouth by the time they were done probably wasn't his own. One thing was clear; they had NOT just met.
He then took her by the hand and led her to where I am writing this by the moonlight now, the Nile's bank. They stood together for a while, taking in the beauty of the moon and stars which glistened in the water before them. She whispered something in his ear and he smiled, then grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up above his head, throwing her up into the air and catching her back up in his arms. Then they walked hand-in-hand back towards the city's edge and I remained here, writing this. I believe that this would be an excellent way to blackmail Seto! Ah, poor Seto; I do not believe he wished for his love life to be discovered by me...
But really it was a bit unsettling to discover this, as I have said. Seto is only two years older than I am! Imagining myself in his position is like imagining myself with a beard! But what really irks me is that although Seto and I are not the best of friends, we have always breen able to confide in each other to a certain extent, being the only teenage boys of high rank in the palace. I would have thought he would have trusted me with something like this. What does this thing called love do to people's minds?
My Ra, it's nearing dawn! Has it seriously been a few hours since I began writing? I must get back to the palace; Father made it very clear that we were all to be back by sunup or suffer the consequences!
-Atemu (Still working on something more interesting to sign as...)
o0O0o
We are all ramblers at heart, Ninqe; you and I in particular seem to be cursed. Writing isn't a special enough talent for you to go to a college farther away? Well, getting something published isn't really hard; if your school participates in any teen writing programs or has links to any, check them out. It's how I got published at least. I dunno, but dear Akunamukanon has been given a nickname by me that will be revealed in the next chapter, and I think you'll find it rather amusing. Your review was NOT a monstrosity; it was the only one that chapter got! That's usually how it works though, like Christmas Dreams chapter one got like... two or something, and the fifth got fifteen or something like that... I'm glad there was no sixth chapter to that, otherwise I'd have to write out a LOT of replies... and I have succeeded in babbling on and on for a paragraph longer than any in this chapter! My apologies!