~ The Midnight Venture ~

   The sand from the Sahara was blowing hard that night, the wind, howling like the jackals in the desert. Ryou did his best to shield his face with the hood of his cloak while still trying to see where he was going. But it was to no avail. The sand was getting everywhere; in his mouth, in his eyes. He finally decided that he needed a place to rest for a moment.

   Quickly he ran around the nearest street corner, trying to find rest from the unrelenting stinging that the sand brought to his porcelain skin. He sighed heavily, as he removed his hood, taking in a few good breaths; something he hadn't been able to do while in the sandstorm.

   He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall of the building that he was hiding behind, still breathing rather heavily. But a noise from the end of the alleyway startled him and made him retract a few steps as he glanced into the darkness. As for what he could see, there was nothing there. However, he didn't want to linger any longer to find out if there was something there. So he quickly put his hood back on and went out to brave the storm again.

   "Going somewhere?" A harsh voice asked. Ryou felt someone grab him by the arm and pull him back into the alleyway forcefully.

   He turned his head and saw the man who was holding him, and behind him were two other men, all of whom looked extremely threatening.

   "Let me go!" Ryou demanded, ripping his arm free, but he only managed to rip his cloak. It fell to the ground next to him, leaving him wearing nothing but his white linen kilt. All three men smiled as they advanced on him.

   "My my my..." Said the one who first grabbed him. "You're a feisty little fellow aren't you?" He came even closer to Ryou until he had him backed up against the wall. "I like that." The man had Ryou trapped, with one arm on each side of him blocking any means of escape.

   Ryou looked on in horror as the other two came up slowly behind their companion. He couldn't see much about their faces, but he could see crooked smiles plastered on their lips.

   The man's face was coming closer to his own. Ryou shut his eyes tightly as he felt the man begin to fondle with the edge of the sash on his kilt, slowly starting to remove it.

   "No...stop." Ryou cried. But his plea fell on deaf ears as the man continued his assault.

   Unexpectedly Ryou felt the man pull away. He opened his eyes to see the man looking at his comrades.

   "Quickly you morons! Go through his stuff and take all his money!" He brought his attention back to Ryou, who by this point feared for his life. What were they going to do to him when they found out that he had no money?

   "Master Ani," One of the men spoke up sheepishly, holding Ryou's ripped cloak in his right hand.

   "What!?" He yelled, growing impatient.

The other two seemed to flinch at the harsh tones of his voice, as did Ryou. This man, Ani, was still holding him steadfast against the wall.

   "Pardon, master, but this child has nothing."

   With a grunt Ani turned back to Ryou and glared at him.

   "Well, then we're done here."

   Ryou almost sighed with relief until he saw Ani smile wickedly. He reached inside his cloak and brought out a small dagger.

   "No!" Ryou cried trying to move away.

But Ani held the dagger right up to his neck. Ryou felt it; it was almost piercing his flesh.

   "P-please..." he begged, trying not to make one false move.

Ani did nothing but laugh until...

   "Release him." Ryou couldn't see behind Ani, but that sounded like a woman's voice.

   Ani turned his head, and Ryou strained his beck to see who was there. He saw a beautiful woman, about twenty of age. She was merely standing in the alleyway in front of all of them; she had a calm look about her.

   "Excuse me?" It seemed as though Ani had a hard time believing that a woman could be this brave.

   "I don't have to repeat myself. I know you heard me." She said, smirking at him slightly.

   Ryou felt Ani's grip tighten slightly at that. Ryou could tell that Ani didn't like to be made a fool out of, especially by a woman.

   With one glance at his partners he smirked. "Get her."

Nodding and grinning the two advanced on her. Ryou saw the woman back into a corner; Ani still had him pinned against the wall, but he struggled to see her.

   'Please don't hurt her.' He thought in his mind. She had tried to save him, and he felt like a worthless little boy who could do nothing. Ryou tensed up as Ani's attention was turned back to him.

   "You thought she could save you?" He asked, almost amusedly.

Ryou shut his eyes when he heard her scream...they were killing her...

   "No...please." He begged, tears forming in his eyes as he looked back up at Ani.

   "Aww...how-" But he was abruptly cut off when a golden flash of light followed by a horrid scream came from behind him.

   Quickly Ani turned his head to see what the fuss was about, and his eyes went wide with shock.

   "What the hell!?" He stared at the woman in disbelief. She had removed her cloak and revealed what was underneath. She was wearing the clothes of a high ranking Egyptian noble woman, gold donned her arms, head and neck, but the bright light was coming from her neck, and as the light dimmed, he could see that it was coming from a golden necklace.

   Upon closer investigation, both Ryou and Ani noticed that the other two men had completely vanished.

   "W-where did they go?" He asked apprehensively.

The woman smiled at him as her emerald green eyes pierced right through him. They seemed to be illuminated by the faint glow that the necklace was still omitting.

   "The same place you'll be going." She answered him simply as she took a step closer.

   The small white haired boy watched silently as Ani released him and started to back away from her. His knees gave way and he fell to the ground, his heart, beating madly against his small chest. What did she do to the other men?

   "S-stay away!" Ani yelled as he started to run, but he tripped over a stone and fell to the ground with a loud thud.

   She smiled as she cast a sorrowful look down at the pitiful mess that was lying on the ground.

   Her hands moved up to her necklace and she closed her eyes.

   "Subse winte aru te yara ta. Yak to issho nuto ka." The bright light returned, so bright in fact, that Ryou had to shield his eyes. However, he wished that he had covered his ears as well, because the scream that came from Ani sent a chill down his spine. What could she be doing to him that felt so horrible?

   Moments later, with his eyes still closed he felt a soft hand rest on his shoulder. He was shaking slightly, but the hand was so comforting, it was almost like Malik's touch...almost, but not quite.

   Shyly, he opened one eye to see the beautiful woman kneeling in front of him.

   "They won't bother you anymore." She said to him with a slight smile.

   "What language was that?" He asked looking up at her, his gaze, fixated on her necklace. Who...or what, was she?

   "That was old Egyptian...not many remember its ancient haunting utterances...but that's for the best." She held out her hand and helped him to his feet.

   "T-thank you."

   "Ryou, you have to get to the palace tonight." She said quickly. He could almost hear a note of worry in her voice, but he could also tell that she tried to hide it.

"Wha-how did...?" Ryou stood perplexed as she started to walk away.

Putting her cloak back on, she stopped at the edge of the building and turned to him.

   "There will be a wall, higher than the others. That's the one you must climb." And that was it. She disappeared around the corner leaving Ryou Ryou standing there, still shaken, and highly perplexed. That was ancient dark magic, he was sure of it. Every Egyptian child was told the story at one point in his life. They were known as the "sacred ones." Ones that were meant for great power, as well as a lifetime of torture. But mostly, Ryou had dismissed it as merely a fairytale...that is...until tonight.

   "That...was strange." He said to himself as he rushed out of the alley, leaving his ripped cloak behind.

   He could see the palace now. It was only a few hundred yards away.

'Go up the biggest wall...great.' He thought. Why did it have to be the biggest wall? Mentally groaning, he hurried right up to the side of the palace and looked around.

   There were guards at the main entrance, and a few pacing back and forth on a wall at the other side.

   Swallowing his fear, he turned around and looked up. Before him had to have been the most enormous wall he had ever seen. 'Why am I doing this?'

   He closed his eyes and shook his head, slowly bring his hand out and reaching for a vine.

This was going to be a long venture indeed...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sorry that it took like, two weeks.I hope you like this one. I've been trying to work more on Bakura's Eviction Notice and A New Light, because I've been spending all of my time on this story, and so, this week, I worked on them, and was unable to get my lazy ass out of bed over Thanksgiving break to actually do anything constructive. I'm sorry for being lazy...gomengomengomen nasai!

Malik: Pish...

*Glares at him* don't push it you...

Malik: *Mockingly* don't push it you...grouch.

*fuming at the ears*

Malik: This is so amusing; I should piss you off more often

Oh yea? Well then...maybe I'll just forget about the lemon that you wanted me to put in...*smirks*

Malik: *Wide eyed* No!! Nononononononono! I was kidding!! Go now!! Finish that damn lemon!!

Don't you tell me what to do!

Malik: *Whips out the sennen rod* what was that?

Ayee! I'm going! I'm going! *Mutters to herself* Ra, all you had to do was take your shirt off...

Malik: *Takes his shirt off*

Oh gods! *passes out*