Prince Atem was worried. Deeply worried. Now that he sat at his little brother's bed, he realized that Prince Yuugi wasn't getting any better. Not at all, at that. The frail body of the eleven-year-old had become every smaller, if possible, making him seem as if he was barely eight summers. Earlier, the little one had awoken for a few minutes, smiling weakly at the crown prince.

"What are you doing here Atem? You should do your chores."

"You are far more important than any of them."

"Don't be silly … all I do is sleeping anyways. Go.", Yuugi had chided him gently, lifting a hand to touch his older brother's cheek before it fell down limply again, only to be caught in larger, tanner hands and held tight for a few more hours. It seemed like eternity to Atem until the priestess came that was responsible for the young prince's wellbeing, and ushered him out; the little prince needed rest.

So Atem had stroked the small, pale, cold hand a last time with his thumb before laying it back onto Yuugi's chest, and got up, leaning over to brush a kiss onto the young one's forehead, noticing with shock that it was dry and hot, unlike any other part of his young brother's body. Yuugi had gotten into high fever again.

With billowing robes, Atem had turned, a frown on his handsome face, without looking back one more time; he knew, if he would, he would stay at Yuugi's side. Sometimes he felt as if he would drown himself, should the little one die. But that wouldn't happen, no! The huntresses would bring home the sacred items and perform the ritual on the boy, and everything would be alright again!

Would it?

Breathe

"This is stupid."

"Shut up, Mai. You're being irresponsible again."

"And you are daydreaming about your prince."

"I am not!"

"Children. . .", Isis' calm voice interrupted her younger sisters. "Stop before someone starts crying." There was just a hint of amusement in that voice – midnight blue eyes sparkling mockingly at them. Mai pouted, crossing her arms in front of her voluptuous, leather-clad chest, huffing. Teana did just the same, grumbling as she walked ahead, away from her stupid stupid sisters who liked to pick on her so much. Sigh …

"I may know the directions in where one of the items can be found.", Isis continued, causing Mai to roll her pretty eyes. "You say that every damn time you got a vision. Most of the time they are stupid nightmares."

If Isis hadn't been used to her the blonde's rude behaviour, she might as well have been offended. Fortunately, she indeed was used to it. Ah well. "It's real this time."

"Really? Which one is it? Are we there yet? Is it far away?", Teana asked excitedly, having turned around somewhere in the sisters' argument. Mai snorted, and Isis smiled gently at the youngest; how much of a child she still was.

"Six and a quarter miles north.", she answered, adjusting the bag she carried at her side. The brunette groaned. "But that is far away … hell, isn't that where the ice plains are?"

"Yes."

"Aww …"

Needless to say, Teana hated the cold. Argh.

"What, child, are you afraid of some cold?", Mai taunted, ruffling the short brunette locks, only succeeding in having the younger girl snap at her hand, only barely missing it.

"Stop it, both of you. You're giving me a headache."

In a heartbeat, both the blonde and the brunette girl snapped their mouths shut and stared at the oldest woman in shock. They knew better than to give Isis a headache – the enigmatic woman's psychic powers were too strong to be messed with.

Breathe

Finally, Ryou's sneakers skidded to a halt, the boy himself out of breath, porcelain cheeks deeply flushed as he stemmed his hands onto his knees to not break down. He was panting, which made the tall thief stopping next to him think of other things that could make the little one pant and gasp like that, but …

Argh. He was doing it again. Bakura's lust vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving only rage for the pathetic sight in front of him.

"Why the HELL did you have to fucking touch them?", he snarled at the child, furious about the incident. If Ryou hadn't touched the damn fen fires, they would be out of trouble (probably) still, and Bakura would still have that delicate body in his arms! ..Alright, this was getting weird. Really weird. He did NOT want to hold the child. Nuh-uh. Never.

Oh Lran above, he was doing it once again. The boy had flinched at the harsh tone of voice, and those pretty emerald orbs quickly filled with tears as the soft lips parted to let out a small, quite whimper in apology. And Bakura couldn't stay mad at him at all.

"Oh I swear you're a damn witch!", the thief cursed, feeling his rage vanish as quickly as the lust had before … now leaving sympathy in its wake. He knew it wasn't really the boy's fault, Ryou couldn't have known at all, but nonetheless they had missed the hideout, and wouldn't meet up with the blondes' that fast. And somehow, Bakura always felt quite lonely and vulnerable without his homicidal companion. Yep, he missed Mariku. Isn't that sweet?

"I'm sorry 'Kura. . .", Ryou mumbled, his head drooping before stumbling forward and leaning his frail body against the thief's muscular one, hugging him to soothe his temper. Emerald eyes closed as he nuzzled his face into Bakura's chest, only vaguely noticing he'd hit the point where the linen shirt's low collar gave way to the smooth, tanned skin of Bakura's chest.

It made the man frown, confusedly; why would Ryou cling to him like that when he'd just yelled at him? A strange child, that one was, indeed. Nonetheless, the thief was surprised to find his own arms wrapped around the delicate waist, holding the child tight to himself.

"It's alright.", he sighed, shaking his head, icy blue eyes watching the boy almost amusedly. Then, something struck him that made him smirk. "Though. . ." Bakura was delighted with Ryou's gasp as his hand fell to the little one's rear end. "You still need to be punished, child, so you won't do it again."

He figured it wouldn't hurt having a bit of fun with Ryou … just a bit. Like shocking him for a moment. Bakura didn't even notice his hand trail over the firm curvature, fingers and palms mapping out the body part. He didn't think he could spank the child, oh no … Bakura was almost afraid of breaking the precious gem in his arms. The King of Thieves didn't foresaw though, that Ryou wasn't as much of the delicate, naïve child he seemed to be, because two pale, small hands were firmly stemmed against his chest now, actually managing on shoving him away just a bit. Of course he was taken by surprise. Not that the boy could have the strength to shove him …

"Stop that! What do you think I am, stupid?" The soft voice had a harsh edge to it right now, making Bakura blink down into angry emerald eyes. "Don't touch me there you pervert!"

He found it quite cute, actually.

Bakura lifted the hand that had rested on the boy's bum, and used it to brush the snowy bangs out of the child's eyes, earning himself a confused blink. He shrugged, almost carelessly.

"I can't see your pretty eyes sparkling like that with those in front of them."

Ahh, there was the blush again … his arm wound around Ryou's waist securely, Bakura smirked at him, and leaned in to brush his lips over the smooth forehead; and growled as there was a thumping noise right outside the small cave they hid in, just as his lips had touched the soft skin, keeping them lingering there longer than he had intended too. But it made Ryou cling to him again as well. Hah!

"Come.", he instructed the little one quietly, letting his arms slide from Ryou's waist to grab his hand instead, and they snuck further into the cave, causing Bakura to growl lowly again.

"There are only two exits here … the one we entered the cave from, and at the end of the tunnel leading through the hill." Bakura could see Ryou squinting his eyes against the semi-darkness.

"The dragon is at the entry."

"Exactly."

"Oh well … do you have a flashlight?"

"A what?!"

Breathe

Ryou didn't know how long they'd walked in complete darkness already, over how many rocks he'd tripped and how much of those rocks had squeaked and scurried away, making him squeak and Bakura snort at him, how often he'd had the feeling something was just behind him. He didn't want to know actually.

Because then he'd find out how long exactly he'd clung to Bakura's hand, and just the thought of doing so made him blush, which in turn made him grateful it was dark somehow. Bakura must've caught him yawn though.

"We should rest."

"Here?!"

"Yes, here." Bakura turned to him as they stopped. "The stupid fen fire pet had stopped chasing us finally." Ryou whimpered as the man let go of his hand, and a few clicking sounds later, the boy had to shield his eyes against the sudden light evading the tunnel. Bakura had made a fire.

"Ano … Bakura?"

The thief looked up, having dug through his bag for some water. "What is it? Are you hungry or something?"

A moment later Ryou had a piece of bread in his hands, which he stared at, and nibbled on it before speaking up again. "Yes, but I wanted to ask you something." A grunt indicated Bakura was listening, still searching through his bag.

"Why do you keep us?"

"Because you're really pretty?"

"Bakura!", Ryou whined, crossing his arms, which made the man chuckle. It seemed he was way nicer when no one could see and use it as blackmail. "Because of the legend, brat."

Ryou tilted his snowy head, still munching on his bread, just as Bakura pulled out his waterskin, took a gulp, and handed it to the boy wordlessly while snatching some of the bread. "What's the legend about?", he asked, taking a sip of the slightly stale water. Bakura seemed reluctant.

"I … I can't tell you."

"It's something bad isn't it? Are you going to sacrifice us to some gods?!"

Bakura blinked at him, then shook his head, rolling his eyes at the boy. "No, stupid. It's about the only persons that can heal this world from the force that make it disappear slowly."

"What?"

"This world, it's slowly disappearing. Young Prince Yuugi is slowly fading away."

"That's the second time that you speak of him …"

"You could say the little one is this world's life force. It's complicated, so I really can't describe it to you. All I know though is that stupid Crown Prince Atem is willing to sacrifice the items to heal him."

"Which items?"

"You're asking too many questions, boy. . ", Bakura snarled, frowning, but continued to talk. "Did you see the dagger Mariku carries around?" A slow nod from the boy. "It's sacred, and it actually would belong to little Teana, but the stupid girl was too dumb to take it when it was time to. Ah well." A smug smirk came to Bakura's handsome face.

"Anyways, that's just one of the items, the others are the quill, and the staff. If you have all three, you can do what you want, because you wield power unimaginable! If Atem uses them to heal his little brother, they will be destroyed, immediately. They're old, you know, ancient. Some freaky wizards made them several centuries ago. Although, now you're here …" Bakura cast a glance at Ryou. "Now it would be possible to heal the prince, without destroying the items. Mariku and I have been after them for years! Though …"

Bakura smirked again, quite evilly. "If Prince Yuugi dies, Atem will despair, and my archenemy is out of the way finally. So I cannot let you near the palace in any way." He closed his eyes again, leaning against the wall.

"B-but …why not?!" Ryou was stunned; he hadn't thought anyone could risk lives just because of some stupid force. It made him sick!

"Because, my pretty little one, you and Malik would die as soon as the ritual would be performed completely."

Oh goodness … now that wasn't good at all. Fortunately for Bakura, Ryou couldn't read thoughts.

Breathe

A/N: Sorry I had you waiting that long! I really become lazy …whoa. I hope you forgive me. Anyways! Review replies, sorry I didn't do them last time!

Lin McGregor: I'm very proud of Malik too! The little one did it!! Danke dir übrigens XD

Blueeyesbakura: I will ;; Thank you.

OBSESSED Uber Rei Model 07: rofls Thank you! Now I feel loved!! throws cookies around Heh, lol, that would be funny indeed! Maybe he still is! Although I think the evil queen lost interest in him for the moment ..

Anime Crazed: Aw, a lot of people liked the dragon .. poor Anwyn! She actually was a RPG character I had once o.o;; when she was younger of course XD Thanks!

Icefire3: Thanks a lot bows

Ladywolf(Terri: Arigatou! Eheh, well … my dad brought the movie 'Dragonheart' home, did you see that one? It's so sad when the dragon dies in the end, but so pretty too, so I stole it XD evil me.

Jade Cade: Goodness, end, yet? Nooo way! There's still so much more to tell! And you're right, they have to get home, because I already know how to start the sequel

It's getting so damn hard to piece the plot together …XD Bear with me, I'll manage! And leave lots and lots of reviews! The more reviews, the more inspiration …