Teana growled quietly while dashing through the forest they were currently staying in. At a lake, she stopped the horse and jumped on the floor, landing soundlessly. Flipping her bangs back, she stared at the glittering water, sighing, when she heard something behind her, bushes rustling. . . The girl spun around, sword pointed at the moving leaves, when a familiar person stepped out of them.

". . Prince. . . Atem. . ?"

Said man blinked, looked around, and blinked again, before he tilted his head and smiled at Teana.

"How are you today?"

Teana noticed she was still standing before the heir of the throne ; something that would most people cost their head immediately, but she wasn't his fiancée for nothing was she? Hah. Non-the-less, she curtsied briefly, what she supposed would look rather odd, considering she was dressed in her hunter clothes, which contained pants for once, something a girl wasn't supposed to wear at all.

"I am well, Prince, but. . . may I ask what you are doing here?"

Atem smiled, and fought himself out of the bushes, who seemed to grab him with their small branches, and hissed at them angrily, causing Teana to smile.

"I'm going for a walk. And you?"

He sat down next to her, and the girl followed quickly, landing with a 'thump' and a wince. Atem snickered.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded quickly, trying to fight the oncoming blush, and sighed softly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Lran damnit! . . uh-oh."

She glanced aside, to see Atem glance back at her, eyebrows lifting slowly. "Should a sacred huntress curse?"

"No, Atem, she shouldn't.", a voice said before Teana could answer, a smooth, sly one. Both turned their head to see the High Priest behind them, who was smirking evilly.

"There, there. . . am I interrupting something?", he asked, smirk turning into a grin, and Teana noticed Atem was blushing just slightly.

"No, cousin, you are not interrupting anything.", the prince gave back coolly with a glare that seemed to freeze fire. That he could change his moods so quickly, from friendly to icy, it was pretty odd, but Teana supposed she had to live with it. At Atem's and Seto's bickering, she turned to the quiet lake, admiring the beautiful view, thinking. Mai had picked on her again, no fair at all! But now, as she looked at her slightly trembling reflection in the water, she asked herself if her older sister maybe had been right. She saw Atem's reflection next to hers, and it was smiling, not blushing and yelling at his cousin like the original was at the moment. Maybe, just maybe, Teana really had a crush.

Behind them, hidden in some bushes, icy blue eyes narrowed. A huntress, the girl was, he could see it clearly. A sacred one. This was so not good. . .

Bakura retreated soundlessly, shaking his white hair out as he left the bushes, growling at the small twigs and leaves sticking in his thick, lush mane, but decided he needed to get back to Mariku and their delightfully pretty little captives as fast as he could; where one huntress was, the other two weren't far away. Plus, the Prince and the High Priest had been there – more than one danger for the thief king. Running a hand through his locks, he scurried through dark patches beneath trees or behind bushes. Fortunately, night approached quickly, and he just hoped the two young boys wouldn't throw a fit again like they had last night; it gave him some big migraine. Though he was mesmerized by the smaller, quieter one. . . He'd never seen such a frail but nonetheless beautiful child.

As he thought about silky, soft white hair and sparkling emerald orbs in an angelic, pale face, he frowned at himself for even thinking about it. It wasn't like he couldn't just have the boy, so he couldn't shrug it off as evil late-teenage horniness. Bakura could have everything and everyone if he wanted to. He told himself that it was some kind of light obsession. Right. Nothing more.

That was pretty bad, actually, Bakura mused. If you liked a thing and were obsessed about it, you could get hurt easier. Sooner as he would've guessed, he was in front of the cave again, and looking around if no one watched, he sauntered inside, slipping on his emotionless mask again.

There in a corner, that Malik kid sat, a lapful of his pretty little obsession on him, arms wrapped around the smaller boy securely. Bakura could've growled, but stopped himself last second. It seemed Ryou was asleep, due to the peaceful look on his face, dark lashes resting on high cheekbones, one delicate hand tangled in Malik's shirt, his lips slightly parted. Bakura found himself staring at those plush lips, licking his own slightly, and as he looked up a bit, Malik was glaring at him and held Ryou closer. The thief bared his fangs at the challenge, and Malik flinched a bit, but glared right back out of his pretty violet orbs. Smirking, Bakura turned, and nearly screamed as a tall figure loomed over him, watching him amusedly.

"Mariku! Don't do that!", Bakura hissed, straightening. Said blonde smirked tauntingly, wrapping an arm around Bakura's waist and pressed him flush against the tanned, muscular chest hugged by the white linen shirt.

"Don't do what, 'Kura?", came the purring reply, which only angered Bakura more, for his need to be close to someone didn't cease. . . but that someone wasn't Mariku, either. He growled, stemming his hands flat onto the tantalizing chest and pushed roughly, causing Mariku to let go of him, but not without letting his fingers caress every part he could reach while pulling back. The albino took a step back, glaring into the still amused eyes of his taller companion, ice blue clashing with dark lavender.

"This isn't the time for this. . . "Bakura said, quietly, almost apologetically; it was true, they had a quite 'close' relationship, and he knew he had hurt Mariku, just slightly. "We need to go. The huntresses are here."

"What?"

"Gods, why do you have to be so dumb? I said, we. Need. To. Go!"

"I did understand that, I was just-"

"Quiet, both of you!!", Malik hissed, causing them to turn and stare at the younger teen, who held Ryou closer, stroking the soft white hair almost casually. "You'll wake him up!"

Mariku huffed, crossing his arms, but Bakura glared and stepped forward, grabbing Ryou's shoulder and hauled him up roughly. Said boy yelped, blinking around confusedly with sleepy-hazed eyes, and clung to the next object there was so he wouldn't fall, his mind swirling from the harsh motion; which happened to be a certain white haired thief, who now blinked down at the younger boy who clung to his chest tightly, face buried in the loose knits of his shirt. "Uhm. . "

Ryou blinked again as Malik felt a bit different than usual, taller even, more muscled, just. . . strange. He smelled different too, though it wasn't a bad scent. In fact, Ryou liked it, so he nuzzled against the person briefly before he dared looking up. What he saw, made him blush furiously, but he couldn't let go for some reason, so he just. . .stared.

Bakura had caught Ryou out of reflex, his arms around the boy's shoulders protectively, and now frowned and wondered why he'd done it – he had wanted to let Ryou fall after he'd woke him up, but found he couldn't. As the little beauty had looked so lost, so confused, he just had to grab him. And the boy didn't seem to mind, only nuzzling closer, which made Bakura blush. Ice blue met emerald when Ryou looked up in wonder and embarrassment, and the thief supposed the world had stopped turning at all. All that existed seemed to be those large pretty eyes, the blushing, wondering face, all the more angelic with some colour in it, and he lifted a hand, reaching up to cup Ryou's cheek; He needed to feel if the skin was as peachy as it looked, as soft as it seemed, and just as his fingertips were about to actually touch it, Bakura was jerked out of his trance by a snort and muffled giggles.

Whipping his head around, he glowered at Mariku covering his mouth with one hand to hold in the laughter, and even Malik giggled softly, now standing beside the taller blonde. Bakura let Ryou go, sending him tumbling softly before the boy caught himself, blinking, and lowering his gaze.

"Anyways.", Bakura said, clearing his throat so he could trust his voice, "As I said, we need to go. No way I let those wicked hags catch us now of all times."

Mariku nodded, pondering quietly as it seemed, and Malik tilted his head, frowning. "Who?"

"The sacred huntresses, kid.", Mariku explained, looking down at his smaller look-alike. "They're after us for quite a while now unofficially, but now, that damned Prince actually sent them."

"What. . . what is going on here, anyway?", a shy, sweet voice asked from the borderline, and three pairs of oddly coloured eyes settled on the still blushing Ryou, who carefully took a step back now he'd attracted attention. Bakura frowned a bit.

"Mariku.", he said then, without taking his eyes off of Ryou. "We need to split up. I'll take Ryou with me to the next eastern hide-out, and you go to the northern one with Malik. We meet at the far northern path, where the traces cross."

The blonde nodded, bold enough to grab Malik's hand, making the smaller one glower angrily and blush, but Malik didn't pull away though. He tugged the younger teen away, looking back only once.

"Good luck. Be careful, the Veildras of the North come out at night."

Malik and Ryou exchanged a small wave, knowing they wouldn't last long without the older teens in this world, and were too confused to throw a fit anyways. Bakura looked down at Ryou, tentatively touching the frail shoulder. "Come on now. The faster we get there, the faster we're safe. It's not far away.", he said, noticing the boy's shivers. "Are you cold?"

Ryou looked up into slightly warmed up eyes, wondering. Was that some question he had to answer so Bakura could taunt him about it? Anyways, he nodded softly, and looked away, awaiting some sharp comment, but instead felt something heavy and warm encase his shoulders and back. He was wearing Bakura's cloak. The next he felt, he was being led away, a large, warm hand on his back between his shoulder blades urging him forward. Bakura tautened next to him as voices could be heard outside as they arrived at the cave's entrance, female ones. Ryou yelped again as he was being pulled back, and pressed against the cold stone wall almost gently, warmth and darkness closing around him from in front of him.

With Bakura's taller body pressed against his snugly, and the hard, damp wall behind him, he felt rather odd. Ryou could feel Bakura's heartbeat against his upper chest, right beneath the shoulder, where the thief's chest laid. He grasped onto the man's shirt; what had happened? Was someone there, ready to find them? Ryou wondered if Malik and Mariku had made it, when Bakura's head lowered and warm breath hit his sensitive ear, sending a tingle down his spine and through his whole body.

"Shh, quiet. . .we have to wait until they pass. Don't make a sound.", Bakura whispered, his lips touching Ryou's ear with every second syllable. The younger one had a hard time fulfilling that request, when soft moans and purrs threatened to escape his throat at that kind of treatment. He swallowed them bravely, closing his eyes in feverish concentration, for Bakura let his head rest there, shielding Ryou in the shadows from everything that could threaten them.

Soon enough, too soon or too late in Ryou's case (He couldn't decide which he'd liked better), the voices subsided slowly, and Bakura lifted his head and pulled away from Ryou, leaving the younger feel cold and alone. Tugging Ryou with him, he exited the cave, and vanished in the thick shadows of the forest. Bakura knew it wasn't far to the eastern hideout where he wanted to take Ryou, they just had to surpass the eastern part of the Lunen Forest as it was called. He held tightly onto Ryou's hand, not wanting to lose him in the darkness; that could've been the boy's signed death. All around them, there were small, bowl-y lights, buzzing around them quietly like fireflies, and from the look on Ryou's illuminated face when the gathered around the angelic child, Bakura could tell Ryou didn't know fen fires were all around him, tugging at his bangs and clothes, tickling his cheeks and nose, trying to make him follow them. But Ryou was not of this world, so it didn't affect him, and he stopped, raising a hand to touch one of the lights. As soon as it was motionlessly on the tip of his forefinger, which he held slightly arched as his palm faced the dark upper branches of the trees, it shuddered gently and kind of exploded, sending the light in rays from it, revealing a small, tiny in fact girl, sitting on the fingertip with her legs dangling about, smiling.

Ryou's eyes went wide, but he smiled back softly, and even Bakura came to a halt to watch; after all, if he let Ryou alone with those fen fire fairies, the boy would never exit the forest again, from another realm or not. The fairy giggled, flapping translucent-golden butterfly wings about, and more giggling rang like tiny silver bells through the night, making goose bumps appear on Bakura's skin. He wasn't fond of this kind of creatures at all, it was forbidden to simply crush them, and they were scary, happiest when they could lead travellers into the inner parts of the forest from where they wouldn't get out again, left alone to die slowly. The Lunen Forest had a dark soul, the people said, and Bakura didn't doubt it at all.

"Ryou, we should go.", Bakura urged him quietly, and Ryou looked up, surprised a bit by the gentle tone of voice, void of all malice or sarcasm suddenly. The boy looked down at the fairy apologetically as the little creature stood, stomping it's tiny bare foot and crossing it's arms pouting, and Ryou noticed it wasn't a girl at all. . . in fact, it didn't look like it had a gender, just really long golden hair and a cute, girlish face. . . which suddenly wasn't as cute anymore, but twisted into a furious mask of childish anger, and the light going off of it became reddish, as well as the other ones', which buzzed around Ryou threateningly.

"Great. We made the fen fires angry.", Bakura groaned, and grabbed Ryou's arm, dragging him off quickly. Ryou eeped, and followed quickly, the silverish giggling sounding very frightening now.

Breathe – Chapter End

Sooo . . Long time no see, eh? Good thing you're so faithful. . . ehehe. . anyways. Review replies!

Jade Cade: Here it is! Heeere!

Snow-shadow-wolf: I'm glad you read it too! Yay! And don't forget to review every time!

Lin McGregor: I'd upload faster, I just have to write them first. . ;

Orangeaura868: Yesh, this is going to be Y/T; but not much. I won't have them together in this too much –sighs- I'd make it all shonen-ai, but my plot's settled ; Sorry. Thank you though! And, well, it depends on the girls if Yuugi's going to die. . .

Magicianofblackchaos23: XD I know, ain't I strange? But you see. . . they threw this plan away. It wouldn't be nice anyways.

Emma the Mistress of Thunder: Me likes your name Anyways, the gods granted your wish!

Pork Steak the Grand(e): My W-chan! –glomps-See, I updated Not as fast as I should've though. . . and no race for them ; But sooo much pretty little dangers! Glee!