Trees. Trees, trees, a bush, more trees, some flingy green stuff he didn't want to think about at the moment, and oh, did we mention trees? Enchanting, Ryou thought dryly. That wasn't what he supposed to be a cursed forest, it was just as every other plain forest he'd saw before. Maybe a bit darker. A bit scarier. And in the other forests he'd walked in, no one had been holding his hand.

Which would be quite romantic, if they weren't chased by crazed little fairies that wanted to roll his hair to silvery thread; that was what he thought they'd do anyways.

Ryou had stopped caring though, as Bakura led him at a quick pace through Lunen Forest, his fingers wrapped tightly around the younger one's smaller hand, and Ryou didn't even have the energy to blush anymore. Not that it would have mattered, his porcelain cheeks were flushed anyways from not being used to run, and he bit his lip constantly because the evil little thorn bushes seemed to have taken a liking in his jeans. Ryou would have never thought he would be sarcastic once in ever, but now he couldn't think of anything else than…

'Just great. It's not like I'm flamboyant anyways in these clothes, nooo, now they're ripped too!'

Some twigs suddenly flinching his way caused him to trip, and he fell against something warm, and breathing, and warm, and comfy… Damn, he'd fallen into Bakura's arms.

Said man was now looking down at him, a delicate eyebrow raised high into his bangs, strong muscled arms tightly around his own, fragile body. And Ryou finally blushed, though it was too dark to notice and he was red in the face anyways.

"Klutz."

Almost fondly did it sound, the way Bakura scolded him, the deep voice low and without any form of malice or anger or strange sadistic purrs. The thief actually sounded like a normal person. Ryou looked up into light blue eyes, clashing their gaze with his own emerald one, and his lips parted just slightly as he wanted to say something but found it impossible to find the right words. Was it just him or did Bakura's face come closer to his own? Something stirred inside Ryou's belly, and he almost could feel wisps of air –breath?- wash over his cheek…

..when the thief lifted his head abruptly, drawing the boy even closer in the same movement, snarling at the darkness behind them.

"Wha-"

"Quiet."

And quiet Ryou was, whimpering when he heard heavy breathing and heavy footsteps, and yes, he was afraid; Mariku had told them earlier what kinds of creatures lived in these woods. He wasn't too fond of meeting them. Also, light, silverish giggles were floating through the air, and the soft hairs on Ryou's arms and the neck of his back raised along with the goose bumps they brought fort. The laughter sounded maniacal, and completely insane! He heard the thief heave a sigh, then curse under his breath.

"Why did you have to touch them?"

"They were pretty…"

"You're pretty too and I'm not touching you all the time, am I."

Ryou pouted, and wanted to disagree; because, well, Bakura did touch him alright all the time, not that he minded though…

"They sicked their pet dragon on us."

"They did what?!"

He flinched when large paws broke dry twigs lazily.

"Run."

Silvery, mad giggling behind them.

Breathe

"Ohh, they think we lost them, isn't it amusing?", the tall blonde woman cackled, leaving her sisters rolling their eyes.

"We did lose them Mai."

"We didn't."

"Yes we did. Or do you know where to go?"

"Me? I thought Isis is the smart one here. . . don't you know where they are, Isis?"

"I'm sorry, I'm barely useful without any books or the Quill. . ."

"Bloody great."

"Teana! Don't curse!"

The youngest woman pouted, crossing her arms in front of her leather-sheltered chest, narrowing azure blue eyes. "Why the hell not?"

"Because Prince Atem wouldn't be pleaaased. . . ", Mai sang with an unnervingly wide smile, causing her younger sister to growl.

"Once again, I do not have a crush on him!"

"Oh yes you do.", the other two chorused, grinning.

Oh, that just wasn't fair! She didn't! Didn't didn't didn't didn't! But no way she could convince her sisters; hell, she could barely convince herself. And now, as she looked up at the starry sky now, deep inside Lunen Forest, she couldn't help but think of the smile he had granted her with earlier.

Easy

Bakura rolled his icy eyes as he stopped at the edge of Lunen Forest, able to cross the border easily and quickly, with a panting Ryou at his side. Did kids never run around a lot? It was like the boy couldn't even take a run through the woods. Meh. Stupid weak little child. He watched as Ryou straightened slightly, fumbling with the rope around his slender hips Bakura had given him, pulling the waterskin from it and taking a gulp, panting even harsher afterwards. Bakura smirked, leaning down so his mouth was next to the unsuspecting child's ear. "Stop making noise, or that beast will find us a lot easier. . . "

Ryou gasped, the thief noticed satisfied, and at least tried breathing calmer. He rolled his eyes though as it didn't seem to work, and came up behind the boy, strong arms around a frail waist, and placed his hands over Ryou's rips, pressing and stroking in smoothly to loosen the child's tension that held his breath captive. It helped a bit, at least it calmed Ryou down to breathe almost normally; was his heart beating faster? Hm, Bakura wondered, what could be the cause of it. . .

In his arms, Ryou went very still, and even forgot to pant, large sea green eyes fixed on the village below. Bakura smirked as he looked over Ryou's shoulder, they were at it again; fires and torches were lit all over, illuminating the small village lying there, circles of houses arranged around the large market place and temple. People were filling the streets, laughter and cheery music echoing through the night, up to where they stood, the sounds of the forest behind them forgotten as both thief and boy stood captivated for a moment. Then the man took the waterskin out of Ryou's hands and tied it to the rope again, tucking it securely so he wouldn't lose it. No way he was going to share his own water with Ryou when the kid lost his own.

"That's Lunen Creek. See.", Bakura explained, his voice a low pleasant rumble against Ryou's ear, making the smaller male blush hotly. And surely, there was a small creek flowing out of the forest and around the village on one side, the fire reflecting on the smooth water beautifully. Then Bakura sent Ryou tumbling forwards almost gently, grabbing onto his thin upper arm to steady him as they descended down the slight hill Lunen Forest was situated on, leading him towards the village.

"B-but what about the hideout?"

"We can wait in the village for them. Mariku will now where we are when the hideout is deserted.", Bakura answered, turning his head to look at Ryou meaningfully. "Or do you want to be locked inside a cage about to be ripped apart by an ancient beast?"

A shake of the pretty white head that was Ryou's. Bakura smirked. "Thought so."

The celebrating villagers didn't even notice when two foreign, white-haired men blended in with them, though they earned appreciative stares. . . Ryou did, at least, while a few eyed Bakura with slight fear. It wasn't like one would see in movies, Ryou thought, when someone entered a party and the music stopped and everyone turned to stare; no, it was more of an acknowledging of their presence, not unusual, and not entirely uncomfortable. As if they had been gone for a while to collect dry wood for the fires or something. Ryou felt slightly uncomfortable though, not used to have people staring at him like that, even if he was sure they meant no malice to him; err, not in the normal way at least. The thought of Bakura suggesting to whore him and Malik came to his mind, and he shuddered, scooting closer to the man, clinging to his hand while watching people dance and laugh and cheer.

"What are they celebrating?", he shouted over the music, and Bakura smirked at him, shrugging amusedly.

"Who'd know? They always celebrate, and no one ever knows why. They don't care about reasons, just about dancing and wine."

"Hm. . ."

"Why, did you wanna dance or something?", the thief asked, an eyebrow raised at Ryou's watching eyes. The boy smiled slightly; uh-oh. That couldn't be good. Soo sweet. . . so sugary. . .so; erg.

"Sure!", Ryou chirped, and Bakura rolled his eyes, not being able to escape the happiness of the boy's; it was contagious. He sighed, and took Ryou's hand in his in a different way, swirling the boy around carefully. He assumed Ryou hadn't danced before like the people danced here, so he had to lead him; great. Dancing wasn't what he wanted to spend his free time with. As the musicians played another song, one Ryou pondered about having some gothic features, the whole mass of people did the same steps, and Bakura grinned at his blushing porcelain cheeks when he missed them repeatedly.

He had to admit though, the child was skilled at dancing.

She goes her way. . . until the end of time, she gives and she takes

A girl was singing to the music, her voice magically strengthened to be heard over the loud music. Bakura led Ryou to the steps, swirling and twisting him carefully as all the other people did the same to their partners much rougher, then pulled him close, one hand resting in the small of the boy's back.

Once you will go my dear, you don't have to fear – until the end of time, until the end of time, she goes her way

Satisfied, the thief noticed the boy blushing more, small hands rested timidly on his upper arms, and snickered slightly as Ryou gave a squeak when he applied more pressure on the boy's waist and lifted him up to turn around once fully before setting him down carefully again, never once losing the emerald gaze. As the one particular song ended, Bakura didn't let go of Ryou immediately, but leaned down to his ear once again, grinning. "What, didn't know how to dance here?"

Ryou huffed. "How am I supposed to know? People dance different from where I come from."

"Do show."

This time, the child blushed crimson. That was more Malik's style really. . . sure, he had went to clubs with the other teen, but dancing like that here freaked him out. After all, from what he'd seen, dancing in the 21st century meant twisting bodies and grinding together, looking as seductively as possible; he wasn't sure if he wanted to show Bakura that.

"Ah, maybe next time. . ."

"Come on, please?"

Hearing the thief being polite melted a part of Ryou's heart, just slightly of course! Yep! Not entirely!

"Well, some of the moves go like this. . . "

"Salamander!!"

Just as Ryou lifted his arms a little and attempted to sway his hips to one side, the yell stopped the music and the laughter abruptly, and a roar was heard from inside the forest; very, very near though. Ryou gave another yelp, and resituated his hands on the sleeves of Bakura's shirt, finding a bit comfort in the tight muscles of the man's upper arms he could feel beneath the thin fabric.

"Damn.", Bakura growled, slipping one arm back around Ryou's waist, and fled, running in curves and circles around the people, and Ryou only once made the mistake of looking back; a large, red leathered head of a giant lizard broke through the very first trees, roaring again, showing off large, sharp white teeth, rolling agitated golden eyes. And Ryou froze.

"Oh, someone has angered the fen fires.", Bakura grumbled from beside him, tugging Ryou closer to him, and dragged him along, finally scooping him up in his arms as the boy was hypnotized by the dragon's captivating eyes.

"As soon as we're out of here, you're in for the trouble of your life, young man."

Somehow, Ryou didn't think Bakura would really hurt him. . .

Would he?

Would he?

E

Ugh, sorry about the late-ness .. evil damn writer's block! The song inspiring me in this chapter was Within Temptation's Mother Earth! It's cool, you should listen to it! If you got AOL or AIM, tell me and I can send it to you too –nodnod- my sn is , just IM me That works for MSN too by the way!

Review replies!! My faithful readers!

FantabulousWatapon: Strange review o.o anyways, thank you ;;

Chelley Angel: Thanks, and I will!

HANDHELD Uber Rei Model 05: Uhh, long name..o.o Uhm, sorry that there wasn't any of Malik or Mariku in this chapter! I'm trying to change between the two groups of them and Bakura and Ryou –nods- It'd be unfair otherwise!

Magicianofblackchaos23: Heya sweetie, I missed you this weekend! –smiles- maybe Mariku is! Maybe not! What if he really is dead? O.o I'd whack myself..-sighs-

Bakagami101: ;; Sorryyy. . . once, I was dubbed Cliffie Queen XD I guess I still deserve that title

Lin McGregor: -dodges plushies desperately- Eek, dun kill poor V-chan TT I don't think I'll separate them, no no, V-chan no evil. . err. . sometimes. . Hey, is there a camera in the closet. . .? –blinks innocently-

Anime Crazed: Will do! 3

Guardian Arrow: Clam down -pets- Things will clear up soon! Oh yesh they will! So no giving away information and spoil the surprise

Terri( ): Yesh, they must live! I'll give my best! –nodnod- Thankies though

Jade Cade: Awww, the poor fairy TT Dun hurt it!

Orangeaura868: I'm relieved myself, though I don't like Yuugi much (cause he's the main character in YGO. . . strange obsession of mine not liking main characters ; ) he's way too sweet to kill off! Yes he is!

Ragna01: Thanks! Will do!