Wish You Were Here
Chapter 14:
"…This sucks."
It was around eight o' clock at night. The wind was blowing fiercely outside the cave that the three yamis had set themselves in, a small whistle among all of the other noises from the storm. This rather large cave provided sufficient shelter for them. Though it was dark and dank, it was… homey.
Yami was appointed the task of starting a fire (against his will, mind you). Dry wood was hard to retrieve, but once it was done, the fire started and they were on the right track to getting warm. They were sitting around it, listening to the rain come down in sheets at the cave's entrance.
"No, really. This really sucks." Marik repeated as the scowl on his face grew even larger, "What the hell did I do to disserve this?"
Yami took that as his cue, "Well, starting from when I knew you, we can put Battle City on that list, your resent escapades, sending my friends to the shadow-"
"That was hypothetical, you idiot!"
"Don't call me an idiot, you idiot!"
"Well, you are an idiot!"
"No, you are!"
Bakura yelled at them, "SHUT UP! Do it and do it, now!"
They both made a small "Meep," sound and quietly sat back down, a light blush on their faces.
"That's a little better. Ra, you two can't give me three seconds of peace? Never mind. And Yami, you should know better. I mean, I expect this from Marik, but aren't you supposed to be the Responsible One?"
Marik looked at Yami expectantly, "…"
"Well, I… I mean, I've…" Yami was fumbling for words, yet nothing reasonable came to mind, "… Ugh."
"Spoken like a true loser." Marik nodded solemnly.
"I have no idea what you two's problem is, but I am the Responsible One! I found you guys after we were separated for half the day!"
Bakura raised an eyebrow, "Maybe my memories gone bye-bye, but I think it was us who found you, knocked out on the ground, moaning in agony. And was it not Marik who put you on his back? However sick he may have become."
Marik shivered.
"…Agh! Fine, then, I'll prove it to you!" Yami got up, picked up a stick and lit it on fire, "I'm going to go and find food to prove to you that I'm really responsible! Take that you bunch of jerks!" He stormed off, deeper into the cave with a scowl on his face.
"Hmm. Do you think we should let him go alone…? Not that I care but, I mean, sooner or later we both know he's gonna freak out and come running back here because a fly touched him."
"…" Marik smirked.
About ten minutes later, in the darkness of the cave, Yami was doing his absolute best to keep his cool, and prove to Marik and Bakura (though they were not there) that Yami was in fact responsible and could do the just that his hikari appointed better than anyone else.
Thus is why he was venturing deeper into the dark cave. He waved the torch around at every little thing that moved. Whether it be a moth, or a beetle that was three feet away from him, he jumped, shrieked and (for some odd reason) licked his lips. Odd.
Anyway, when it was apparent to him that there was no food to be found back there, he hung his head in defeat and decided to turn back.
"Darn. I thought, maybe…" Suddenly, Yami tripped and almost fell over. After regaining his balance, he looked down at a patch of blue mushrooms. That had been what'd tripped him.
He smirked to himself, "Well, well, well… It seems there is food in this sorry excuse for a hotel, after all."
The mushrooms were pretty big, so Yami only picked up three. You may think it strange to pick and eat wild mushrooms in a mysterious cave, but, to Yami, this was only too perfect.
'Just wait till Marik and Bakura see! They'll be sorry they ever picked on me!' Yami skipped off happily in the direction that he thought he came from…
"Okay, okay, one of us has to go look for him." Marik affirmed, "I mean, he's been gone for almost twenty minutes, for all we know he could be laying in a ditch."
Bakura raised an eyebrow, "…?"
"Dead."
"Oh."
Marik shook his head, "Dummy," he muttered under his breath. "So, this is how we'll figure it out… we'll jus do Rock, Paper, Scissors. Whoever loses, goes to search for the Pharaoh. Get it?"
"Got it."
"Good." Marik held out his fist and Bakura did the same. Bakura began the count off. "Rock, Paper, Scissors… Shoot!"
Bakura was paper and Marik was rock. "Wait, wait, do-overs!" Marik called out in disbelief.
"No do-overs! I won!" Bakura growled at his friend, "Paper beats rock, and besides, you're just mad cause you have to go and repay Yami from when he saved you. So, go on. Shoo."
"Argh! You're just scared! Best two out of three! If you back down, you're just worried your luck will run out against someone with real skill!"
Bakura jumped up and put his game face on, "Fine, then, Ishtar! This isn't about the Pharaoh, anymore, this is personal!"
Marik held out his fist, "Rock, Paper, Scissors… Shoot!"
Meanwhile, Yami was walking around, totally afraid. He thought he'd been going the right way but it seemed the more he walked the darker it became and he knew that wasn't right. Then, before he realized it, he was completely turned around.
"Damn it! Why didn't I take Marik or Bakura with me? At least then, I wouldn't be…" He swallowed hard, "Alone…"
A mushroom fell out of his arms and down onto the rocky ground. Yami hesitated for some reason, but bent over to pick it up anyway. When he lifted it off the ground, the torch in his hand fell to the floor and rolled into a rock… or what Yami thought was a rock. The flame died as soon as it hit.
"… If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all." He sighed into the darkness. "Now, how am I suppose to find my way ba-"
Yami was interrupted by a sound that came from very near by. Grrr…
He gulped. "M-M-Marik…?"
Grrr…
"Ba-Bakura…?" His voice was desperate now, as the growl grew a little louder and a lot closer. Yami backed up and into something. "Ah-ah-ah…!" He was hyperventilating as cold hands laid themselves on his shoulders and worked their way around his neck.
Creepy voices whispered into his ears, "Yami… We've come to drag you down… Yami…"
"NNNNNOOOOOOO!" Yami screamed out, causing the bats from the cave's ceiling to fly away.
As Yami tried to get away, two evil yet playful laughs could be heard from behind him. A soft light glowed from behind him and he whirled around to see the glows coming from Marik and Bakura's millennium items.
"Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" Fits of giggles and laughter erupted from the two as they high-fived each other and starred down at the slightly shorter spirit. "Y-You should've seen your face!"
"That was too priceless!" Bakura added, "I-I mean… really!"
Yami starred back at them with wide eyes, "You… you (bleep) tricked me! I can't believe that you would (bleep) (bleep) with me while I was in a moment of (bleep) (bleep)! Well, I hope you (bleep) (bleep) (bleep)! (Bleep) you all! I hope you (bleep) die! Burn at the stake!"
"…" After raising their eyebrows, Marik and Bakura grinned, "Oh, stop it. We just came to check on you. Chill."
Yami opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped immediately and widened his eyes. He pointed, wordlessly behind the taller yamis, "M-Ma-Marik… B- Bakura… W-wa-Watch… Watch out… t-the…"
Bakura smirked, "C'mon, Yami, how dumb do you think we are?"
"I know you're bitter, but we're not gonna fall for the old 'Look out behind you!' trick. It's older than you are." Marik added.
"Eh… eh…" Yami's eyes were now dilating. He turned tail and began running frantically in the opposite direction. "Screw this, I'm running for my second life!"
Marik cocked his head to one side, "What's gotten into his pants?"
Bakura shrugged.
They were about to go after him, to make sure he wasn't hurt, but then they heard a low growl from behind them. Bakura thought maybe it was Yami, so he turned around and flashed his millennium ring around.
"What do you see?" Marik asked.
"Eh… A few rocks, mushrooms, a mountain lion, and a bug. No Yami."
"Oh."
"…"
"…"
Suddenly, they both looked at each other, "A MOUNTAIN LION!"
"ROAR!" It pounced up and in front of the two. "Grrr…!" It growled and shifted his eyes from the blonde to the silver haired boy. Probably figuring out which one would taste better.
"AaAAaaAA…!" Marik began to cry hysterically, "What a-are we gonna doooo, Bakura, what in Ra's n-name are we gonna doooo!"
The lion stalked them by walking carefully in circles around them, causing the two to back into each other with nowhere to go. He moved in a little closer; Marik and Bakura took this chance to try and run in the other direction, but it seemed the lion's reflexes were much too fast. Every time they went one way, the lion moved there before they could escape. In less than a minute, they ended up running around in circles, yelling.
"Graahhh…!" A half moan, half purr came from the large cat as he cornered Marik by a big boulder. It looked like this was the end of the line for Marik as the lion was less than three inches away and was about to pounce again.
"Oh, R-Ra…Save me and I-I wont ever do anything mean t-t-to Yami again, ever, ever, never!" He shut his eyes and awaited the end.
It is said that when death is upon you, your life flashes before your eyes. Well, I suppose the same thing happened to Marik. The first image was his hikari, and then… Malik again. Oh, and Malik again. Then there was Malik on a boat, Malik losing his mind, and Malik in front of a pyramid saying, "Sassafras."
Uh… yeah.
"Akikikiiiiiiiiii!"
Marik's visions were interrupted as a battle cry came from the entrance of the cave. The lion's roar was heard and then a series of more yells and grunts. Marik thought it best to file this under Hallucination and hide behind the large rock.
In less than a minute, nothing could be heard and silence filled the cave. Marik decided to make a run for it. So, out he went as fast as his muscular Egyptian legs would carry him. (And that's going somewhere around 15mph if there's Blueberry pie in sight.)
He opened his eyes when he made it to the entrance of the cave. It was still thundering outside, the ground damp with about two hours worth of consistent rain.
"Whew!" He sighed and leaned back against the cave wall, "Gee, I hope Bakura made it out…"
"Don't worry, I did." A voice from behind him said.
Marik whipped his head around, "Bakura! Hey, was that you that saved me?"
"Hmm?" Bakura shrugged, "I don't know. I was flying out of there like a bat outta hell, so I could've done anything. I know, when I left, the lion had you cornered and you were screaming for Malik."
"Oh." Marik pouted, "…Wait, you mean you would've let me die!"
Bakura grinned and fluffed his hair, "…"
"Um. Well, then. If that wasn't you, then it must've been-"
Suddenly, Marik and Bakura heard paw steps inside the cave. They jumped back a little and peeked in. It was the mountain lion. The two boys were about to run into the storm, yelling and screaming, but then they heard a familiar voice.
"Wait, guys, don't go." Yami said, sitting atop the back of the lion, smiling, "We can give you a lift when the rain clears up."
Bakura was aghast and hid behind Marik. Marik had so many questions. So many things he wanted- no, needed to ask Yami. Starting with… "So…so that was you who saved me, Yami?"
"Yes. I saw Bakura running out here and knew you must've been bawling like a baby. Lucky for us, when I was ruling in Egypt, I had many friends that happened to be cats. And I learned how to talk to many different types of cats. And would you believe that a mountain lion is a cat? Go figure!"
Marik nodded, trying not to look too confused, 'This couldn't possibly get any weirder… could it?'
