-Wild Aces-

"I'm looking at something that starts with a 'P'; do you know what it could be?"

"Your palomino…"

"Nope, try again."

Eyeing Marik, Malik and Ryou from his horse, Seto shook his head. They had been riding for a good hour or more, with Yami leading the way, but apparently Marik had decided to initiate a small game between himself and everyone else. By the looks of things though, only those three were the ones involved.

"I don't think this is the time to be playing games," Joey snorted, keeping his horse beside Seto's.

"Think nothing of it pup," Seto smirked, enjoying the usual pout the blond gave him at the pet name. "Marik is always like this, and he's only doing it to pester someone."

"Um… how about that plateau over there…"

"Nice try, Ryou, but wrong."

"Aha, Bakura's horse, it's a Paint."

"Woo, getting close there, hell-cat, but ya still not right."

"There's nothing else around here that could start with a 'P'," Joey mused, looking around the area carefully before looking at Seto curiously.

Lifting the brim of his hat to get a better look ahead, Seto could see that Yami had finally pulled his horse to a stop and was waiting on them. Turning back to Joey, he chuckled. "You're thinking too hard, be more like Marik, don't think at all and the answer will slap ya in the face."

"Damn this, I give up!"

"Me too, so what's the answer?"

"The thing I see that starts with a 'P' is," Marik chuckled lightly before pointing up ahead where Bakura was riding. "My good buddy, Powder."

Up ahead, Bakura bristled at the mention of that damned nickname that he had been cursed with. Glaring back at Marik, he could feel his other hand twitching against the shotgun holster attached to his saddle. 'Just one good shot…that's all it'd take.'

Noticing the harsh glare, Ryou rode his horse next to Bakura's and reached over to rub the other's arm, hoping to relax him. "It's alright, Bakura. Marik is only having a bit of fun," he offered, while continuing to rub Bakura's arm.

Snorting, Bakura shot a last fleeting glare at his comrade before taking a breath and enjoying Ryou's gentle touch. "I suppose I can let him live a bit longer," he smirked, giving Ryou a playful wink before turning his attention to where Yami had stopped his horse. "I wonder what's up."

Riding up to the silent spiky haired outlaw, everyone took notice of the narrowed eyes that glared down the slope to see a large object lying in middle of the gulley.

"Whatever that is, it's dead."

"Really, and what makes you say that," Bakura snorted, shooting a mocking glare over at Marik. "Could it be the fact that it isn't moving?"

"Nope," Marik smirked while pointing up to where a pair of buzzards were circling. "They gave it away."

Ignoring Bakura's obscene mumblings along with everything else, Yami gave his horse a firm nudge with his spurs, causing the stallion to take off down the slope in a steady canter.

"He's pissed again, ain't he?" Marik asked, looking at the others with a light frown on his face.

"Until we get Yugi back, I doubt he'll be anything but pissed and liable to shoot anyone that annoys him," Seto sighed, shaking his head before sending his horse after Yami's.

Hearing Seto's words, Bakura smirked before looking back at Marik. "Why don't you go and bother Yami for a bit."

Glaring at Bakura, Marik pouted before sticking his tongue out and going off to join the others, leaving Bakura and Ryou to bring up the rear since Malik was sticking by his side.

Dismounting before Phantom had stopped walking, Yami made his way over to the carcass to find that it was a flea-bitten gray horse with one of its legs bent at an odd angle, as well as a missing shoe, and a deadly shot to the head.

Hearing a whinny from his own horse, he noticed the stallion shake its head at the sight of the dead horse. He felt bad for the animal as well, but it was the least of his worries since he remembered the description that Mokuba had given them of the rider and horse. Here was the horse… but the rider as well as his little one was no where to be seen.

"Did you find anything, Yami?" Ryou asked, cringing at the dead horse while keeping his own mount beside Bakura's.

Shaking his head, Yami sighed. "This is the horse, but it looks like the horse must have stumbled and broke its leg."

"Explains why the guy shot it then," Marik sighed. "The rider could still be around here somewhere."

"Unless he got on the wagon roads," Joey stated, causing the others to look at him. Flinching at the crimson stare that was locked onto him, he turned away. "This road is one of the busiest around."

Clenching his fists, Yami quickly climbed into the saddle before jerking the reins to head straight for the wagon roads. "Then we better hurry."

"You can't be serious," Bakura uttered out before flinching at the death glare he was receiving. "Okay, so you're hell bent, but still, don't ya think it's gonna be a bit hard to track them down if they get on a coach or something."

"I'll track them down," Yami growled, giving Phantom another nudge, sending the horse into a fast canter. "No matter what!"

Feeling the coach lurch to a stop, Yugi winced as the back of his head smacked against the coach wall. Looking over to the corpses, he sighed at seeing that the two guys were missing a lot of their clothing while the lady had a tattered dress. He had felt bad about taking the stuff, but it wasn't like they needed it any longer.

Squirming over to the window, he blinked at the rugged looking town. Catching sight of a sign on a post, he noticed the name 'River bend Town' etched across the wood in black paint. Going through his memories of the towns that he had remembered seeing on the map back home, he frowned lightly.

'I'm farther from home than I thought…' he sighed while dropping his head. He hoped Yami and the others were on their way to save him, and somehow he felt that Yami was not very happy at all. It was a weird feeling, but during the night when he had dozed, in his dream he had seen Yami glaring darkly at someone, those usual bright crimson eyes turned a harsh deep garnet that even chilled him to the bone. 'I would have hated to be the one on the other end of that glare.'

"Tell the boss I have the runt!"

Snapping out of his thoughts by the harsh voice, Yugi watched his captor limp over to a guy standing on the porch of the saloon. This man had dirty blond hair and harsh blue eyes. He thought he had seen the man before, but it was vague.

"He ain't here yet!"

"What? But I thought he wanted the runt!"

"He does! There is a slight change of plans."

"Why?"

"The train changed times, it's leaving earlier than he thought, and that is why he wanted the runt in the first place."

"Whatever you say, Keith."

Hearing the name, Yugi's breath hitched. That was the man that shot Yami! That much he remembered. Keith was Silver Mane's 2nd in command, but besides that all he could think about was that this was the man that had shot his Yami.

"So what do you want me to do with him?"

"Take him and toss him in the wagon in the barn."

Yugi glared at the retreating form of Keith before turning his attention to the man that was coming back to the coach. Getting ready to try to grab the latch so the other couldn't get him, he tripped and ended up hitting the floor just as his captor opened the door.

"Have a nice ride runt?"

"You won't get away with this!" Yugi growled and struggled as the man jerked him out of the coach, causing him to hit the ground. Groaning from the impact to his already bruised side, he hissed as his captor hauled him up by the back of his shirt before slinging him across his shoulder. "I mean it! When the Wild Aces arrive, Yami will have your asses!"

"Save it runt!" The rider grumbled while packing Yugi into the barn to see the desired wagon sitting over in the corner. Walking over to it, he tossed Yugi into the back.

Feeling his back ram into the wheels of the large gun, Yugi hissed before opening his eyes to see the man leaning over to blindfold him. "Get away from me!" he yelled, kicking at the man to only receive a firm slap to the face. Wincing from the blow, he blinked to find his vision cut off by the dark bandanna around his eyes.

'Well this is a fine mess…' he sighed sadly, feeling the rider tying him against the gun so that he couldn't run away. "When my friends get here, I'm going to make sure you are the first one on Yami's hit list…"

Before Yugi could finish his rant, the rider had quickly tied a piece of rope over his mouth, causing the rope to rest like a bit between Yugi's lips, muffling his voice.

"That ought to shut ya trap for a while."

Glaring at the man behind his blindfold, Yugi snorted as he heard the other's spurs jingling away. Biting the rope in his mouth, he crinkled his nose at the horrid taste of the rope. It didn't help that the rough rope was also cutting into the corners of his mouth. 'Why me? C'mon Yami, hurry and get me out of this mess!'

"Looks like something was drug through here."

Nodding, Yami continued to glare as he took in the surrounding area. They had at least went a good 10 miles or more since they had left the dead horse and now at the wagon trail, he was even more worried about his little one.

"Uh oh."

Hearing the words, crimson locked onto the blond deputy. "What is it?"

Looking back at Yami, Joey pointed to the ground where a patch of sand was discolored. "It's blood."

Growling at the thought of someone actually hurting Yugi, Yami's grip on the reins tightened.

"What do we do now?" Ryou asked, looking at Bakura curiously.

"I guess we ride to the closet town and see if they've seen anything." Bakura replied with a shrug.

"There's two towns heading that way," Joey sighed, rubbing the nape of his neck nervously as he felt those crimson eyes glancing at him. "There's River bend Town and Copper Town."

'Damn, two choices,' Yami growled, looking to the horizon. 'I don't have time to choose which town to go to. Yugi needs me now!' Shaking his head, he gave a firm nudge with his spurs, causing Phantom to break away from the others and gallop off down the wagon trail.

"Yami! Dammit!" Bakura growled, throwing his hands up in defeat. "That ass is going to be the death of me, I swear!"

"He's just in a hurry to get to Yugi," Marik sighed. "You would be the same way if Ryou was the one in Yugi's place."

"Either way," Seto cut in. "We better hurry and catch up to him."

Yami was in a world of his own as he leaned over the saddle, this position shifting his weight into a way that enabled the horse to go faster. Keeping his eyes open for anything that could point him in the right direction to his little love, he internally sighed at leaving his friends in the way he did, but he knew that they would catch up to him soon enough.

Rounding another bend, something caught his attention. Pulling back on the reins, he muttered apologies as Phantom reared up and snorted at the sharp jerk. Quickly dismounting, Yami ran over to the object and blinked.

It was a blood stained leather vest, but that isn't what caught his attention. It was the initials imprinted in the fabric as well as the arrow. 'Yugi… you truly are a brilliant little angel.' Smiling at the thought, he placed the vest back down before grabbing a stick and drawing a line in the direction he was heading before climbing back up in the saddle and heading off in the direction that Yugi had left him to follow.

"I'm on my way, Yugi!"

Moments later…

Pulling their horses to a stop, everyone noticed the vest as well as the hastily drawn arrow pointing in the other direction.

"Where is he headed?"

Looking at the arrow point, Joey offered the other's a small smile. "River bend Town."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Marik smirked. "Let's catch up to Yami and get the runt back… Ow! Dammit, I was only joking!" he pouted, glaring at Malik, who had smacked him in the back of the head for insulting his shorter companion.

"Why couldn't ya have said that in front of Yami," Bakura pouted before smirking lightly at Marik.

"Ah come off it Powder," Marik chuckled. "Ya know you'd miss me, if I was dead."

"Not likely," Bakura mused. "I could actually get some piece and quiet."

"But then who would call you, Powder?"

Hearing the name, Bakura paled as he noted that Ryou was the one that had spoken. "I'll be damned, not you too."

"Sorry, I think it's cute."

"I'm not cute."

"You are to me," Ryou smiled.

"Enough," Seto called out, determined to get some order again. "Lets just catch up to Yami and get on with our lives!"

"Lead the way."

Nodding to Joey, Seto took off leading the way as the others joined in behind him. They would catch up to Yami soon, and then they would go into town and if Silver Mane and his gang were there, they were going to go in fast and hard, before getting Yugi out of there and taking care of their rival once and for all.

It was time for a whole new game to begin…