Tale 10. Pharaoh to the rescue

Atemu POV

The battle was in high heat and Yugi and I were getting tired.

"Pharaoh-sama, is there no end to them….?"

"There are a lot. I never thought that the Nubians could beat us. They have such primitive weapons but they are overcoming us in sheer number."

"Maybe…" Yugi gasped for breath as he slashed out with his dagger, "It's because all their men are trained to fight and we only have one army. The famers don't know anything about fighting they're only trained to farm."

"Good idea… if we ever get out of this mess maybe we could train the farmers." I grunted, shoving on warrior off of me. "I wonder why everyone always seems to attack us ?"

"Maybe… it's because we have the best technology and power and they're jealous or because they're the characters and I need something to make a good story… bwaha!."

"Hm…" Just then, I saw a flash of a red cloak and silver hair. I moaned. Not now! Then I saw the other thieves, but the Nubians were attacking them! They must have thought they were citizens, well, that took care of that problem.

Nahkti Normal POV

"Set take it all…" I muttered. "So much for that plan." We had arrived just in time to see Memphis being attacked by black skinned savages.

"What do we do now?" Maadrath asked.

But before I could answer her, the Nubians began attacking us too!

"Wait!" I yelled, "Stop! I'm not with them!"

"Coward!" Maadrath yelled. "They can't speak Egyptian! Quit wining and fight if you ever want to get by to the hideout alive."

As usual… the woman was right and I pulled out my knives and began fighting for my life.

Finally, we got far enough away from the fighting to be able to escape but when we did a head count, we were short one…

"Set! Where is Ryoo?"

The thieves stared at each other strangely but no one could find him.

"I've got to go back and get him!"

"No! You can't!" Maadrath grabbed my arm. "It was pure luck we got away this time. You'll be killed!"

"And Ryoo won't?"

"Stop it! You're acting… acting… weak!"

"Weak? How dare you call me that, woman? You're the one acting weak."

"Your risking your life. It's not worth it!"

"Look, Maadrath," I turned around, "I respect your judgment but I can't hide if Ryoo's being decapitated by savages right now, okay?"

"Alright," She shoved me and smiled. "Be stupid, and get your little pet."

"Okay, Beneset," I ordered, "Help Maadrath get the others back to the hideout. I'll be back, I promise!" Then I ran off.

Of course, as Maadrath had predicted, as soon as I placed one foot within the city gates, I was instantaneously attacked by worked up Nubians.

"Set take you all!" I screamed. Ignoring the fact that I could be saying 'you've got an ugly mug' as far as they were concerned. "Ryoo-chan! Where is my Ryoo!" I yelled. Just then, I saw him.

"Thief-sama? Thief-sama where did you go?"

"Over here, Ryoo!" I stabbed a man beside me and he dropped me.

"Where did you go?"

"Sorry, we left without you!" I grabbed him and ran but four burly men stood in our way. Ryoo ducked away from them but I wasn't so lucky. Seeing I was in trouble he started running back.

"Leave! Idiot! Get out of here!" I yelled at him but he thick headedly ignored me. He was captured too. But, they didn't kill us. I wondered why. The battle quickly ended, strangely enough.

Just then, the Pharaoh walked up to us and he and a tall Nubian began conversing in a strange language. I finally figured out that it was a very crude, old, sort of Egyptian. Piecing together what I heard, I discovered that the Nubians wanted to bargain with the Pharaoh using me! How funny! They must have thought I was some sort of high ranking official with all my jewelry. They were in for a surprise! The Pharaoh didn't want me at all… uh oh… but just as the Pharaoh had decided they could kill me, Yugi stopped him.

"No!"

"What? Yugi?"

"You can't let them kill Ryoo!"

Oh, yes, I had forgotten about him. He had a strange little friendship with Yugi.

"But.."

"Please… get them to let them go!"

"Well… I'll think about it!"

Yugi got tears in his eyes. Wimp. But I smiled. Little Yugi had just bought me some time.

"Get up!" The tall Nubian ordered me. I stood up. Then I grinned at him… and spat in his face. I got a buffet on the head but he didn't kill me and I was as satisfied as a noble after a big banquet.

Ryoo noticed my unnatural grin and glared at me strangely. I grinned at him and he gave me a 'shut up' look. Maadrath was influencing the boy badly. I stopped smiling and looked away. The tall Nubian ordered us to walked and we started south.

"What are we going to do, Nahkti?" Ryoo asked. "There's no way we can escape. These guys almost took out the Pharaoh's entire army! Even you can't do that!"

"Hey! Don't underestimate me! The Pharaoh's soldiers are dolts!"

"No talk!" One shouted loudly at me.

"Okay, okay, geez!" I yelled back. He glared daggers at me and I covered my head. Ryoo rolled his eyes. Where in Set's name did he get such an attitude. Must be Maadrath.

When evening came, we set up camp… or I set up camp. Mean black savages… When I was finally done, they tied me up next to Ryoo and began cooking dinner. As the smell of roasting meat floated toward me I started drooling. I hadn't had a bite to eat since breakfast.

"Ryoo…"

"Yeah?"

"Are you hungry?…"

"Don't get any ideas. Maadrath says you are always getting in trouble."

"Eh? What does it matter what Maadrath says? I'm the leader!" I glared at him and he sighed. Seeing that complaining didn't get me anywhere I sighed too.

The moon came up. Our Nubian captives went to bed…. And… didn't feed us!

"What?"

"Shhh! You're going to get in trouble!"

Atemu POV

"Wh… why didn't you save them, Atemu-sama?"

"They don't matter!"

"What do you mean 'they don't matter'? Ryoo's my friend. You would have done something if Jouno-san were in their place!"

"I may or may not have!"

"But…"

"Look! It was hard for me to but politically neither Nahkti nor Ryoo matters! I want Nahkti dead anyway. Besides, it's Ryoo's own fault that he follows the man around."

"Pharaoh-sama…"

"Yugi, I couldn't do anything just then without endangering the empire. We should be grateful they gave us some time. Just sit tight. I'll figure something out."

"Okay…"

I watched as Yugi's eyes started watering. Why did he always have to be so pathetically cute whenever I was trying to be serious? I walked over and gave him a hug. Yugi dug his forehead into my shoulder.

Nahkti POV

I looked over. Ryoo was asleep. I will be okay. I will be okay. I told myself, I am the infamous thief king after all… Set take it all! How in Osiris's name is a guy supposed to escape when he was bound hand in foot in a camp full of husky black savages! I growled and spat in the dirt. Then I laid down and tried to sleep.

The next morning, we kept on going. By evening, to my despair, we hadn't reached our destination. "Great Amun! Why me?" I muttered to myself. I knew what Maadrath would say:

"Because! You were stupid enough to go back for the brat! If you had just stayed like I said… blah blah blah blah…"

Well… I had an attachment to the um… 'brat'. I would get lonely… no, bored without him. Set! I was arguing with myself! I guess Maadrath was influencing me too. Naw… I just needed a drink. The sun was hot enough to cook an elephant and I hadn't had any water since last night. I walked over to the tall Nubian and tapped him on the shoulder. I coughed twice and said, "Sir, water, please?"

He only glared at me in response. I glared back. He glared back. The entire crowd stopped moving. Ryoo sighed. I kicked him. Ryoo shut up. Seeing that no one was moving, the tall Nubian replied, "One. Tonight." Then ordered everyone to keep going. Then whacked me across the jaw. I was ticked enough to fight an alligator but that guy was tough enough to fight two so I got back in line.

When the moon was high, we actually reached a village. It was a pretty good village. Some women came out. One, who was wearing big earrings walked up to the tall Nubian and the began to converse quickly.

The tall Nubian tied me up outside his hut and left me there…. And he didn't give me any water! I was about to start complaining but thought better of it. Later, though, a young girl around Ryoo's age came out of the hut carrying a gourd of water. She smiled at Ryoo and handed it to him. She stroked his pale hair curiously. Then said something that sounded mushy like 'you poor little boy' or something. Ryoo smiled back at her. She handed him the gourd of water.

"Mima!" A loud voice from inside the hut.

The girl yelled something back, patted Ryoo on the head and ran back into the hut.

"She's cute isn't she?" Ryoo asked with a dreamy look on his face.

I grabbed the gourd from him. "Feh! Mush!" I replied and drank rapidly, then handed the rest to him.

I laid down and Ryoo put his head on my chest like a pillow. There was a gurgle.

"Oh, that was my stomach…" I told Ryoo.

"Yeah, I'm hungry too."

Just then, the girl, I supposed that Mima was her name, came outside and handed Ryoo two large, flat pieces of bread. Why did she keep giving him stuff? I grinned at her and she glared at me. Definitely the tall Nubian's daughter. I sighed and she went back into the hut. Ryoo handed me one of the pieces of bread. I ate it hungrily. Then we went to sleep.

The next morning Atemu POV

"I've got it!"

"What? What?" Yugi asked.

"I have a plan! I'm going to get your buddies out by buying them with water!"

"Eh? Water?"

"Well… Isn't that what Egypt's famous for around here?"

"I suppose…"

"Okay! Then it's settled then. Let's go get some big pots of water, put them on a wagon and go to Nubia!"

"Sure!"

Nahkti Normal POV

The days passed slowly. I had lots of work. Hard work. While Ryoo and Mima's friendship grew. I rolled my eyes at that. It was so annoying. He got to play with her all day. I wondered how it happened anyway. They couldn't even speak the same language.

One day, after my tasks, I went to find Ryoo. I found him. He was with Mima… again. I peeked around a tree. Mima was at a grinding stone and Ryoo was feeding grain into it for her to make into flour. I kept watching. I had nothing better to do.

Mima smiled and reached over to her side. She pulled some flowers out of her belt and began braiding them into Ryoo's hair. Ryoo began to giggle. She gave him a hug.

Suddenly, the tall Nubian stalked out of the hut… and saw her.

"Mima!"

"Papa…"

The tall Nubian was angry. He tore Ryoo away from her and yelled at her. Obviously he didn't want her talking… or hugging… or both… the captives. Then the man knocked her across the face. I could tell from the tone of his voice like he was saying something like 'how many times do I have to tell you that!'. Ryoo, frightened for Mima's safety bowed in front of the tall Nubian and began apologizing. The tall Nubian only ignored him and threw him aside. Then Mima began trying to protect Ryoo. The situation was getting worse and worse. Then, the tall Nubian began beating Ryoo and Mima!

This was uncalled for. Nobody hurt Ryoo but me! I ran in there just as he threw a punch at Mima.

"Stop it!" I yelled and grabbed his arm. Ryoo ran over and put his arms around Mima.

The Nubian yelled curses at me. "You not do! You go!" he yelled at me.

"No!" I replied, "Don't hurt Ryoo and Mima!"

"I do what I want! You captive! You go!"

I shoved him down. Mima gasped but I didn't care. Let the man do what he wanted. I was ready. I was sick of being ordered around by him. The man was quickly up again. He punched me. Okay…. I wasn't quite as prepared as I thought. That punch had just knocked the wind out of me but I quickly got up again. He aimed another punch at me but I dodged it and kicked him. By then, many more of the Nubian had gathered around. The wrestled me to the ground and tied me up. The tall Nubian dug his foot into my scalp but I refused to apologize.

Fed up, he turned around and dragged Mima into the hut. Ryoo was scared and didn't know what to do.

I knew one thing, though, it would take a lot more than determination to get out of this mess.

A few days later…

I was sitting behind the hut watching the people in the village eat dinner. I was drooling again. After that incident with the tall Nubian and his daughter, she hadn't been able to come see Ryoo and without the extra food she gave us I was powerfully hungry. The rations we got weren't enough for me. Seeing I was dangerous, they had always kept me chained up so I couldn't go look for food after my tasks either.

I sighed. "Man, Ryoo, are we in a fix!"

"Mima…"

"Huh?"

"Mima. She's in trouble and it's all my fault."

"No it's not. It's her fault!"

"I'll never see Mima again."

"Shut up! It was a stupid relationship anyway."

Just then, we saw a movement in the entrance of the village. I sat up. It was the Pharaoh! So, Yugi had convinced him to come save us after all! What? No army? He was alone with Yugi but he had a wagon full of jars. I wondered what was in them. He had better have a good plan or he'd be squashed like a bug.

"You!" The tall Nubian exclaimed. "You want trouble? I think you better if you stay."

"I'm here to bargain for the hostages," Atemu replied calmly.

"You ready give up?"

"I'm not giving up. I have something you might want." He showed him the jars.

"What in jars? We no want jars!"

"There's water. Fresh clean Nile water. I think you want this. Come take a look if you want."

The tall Nubian walked over and tasted the water. "This good water! I say you give land although."

This guy was getting hard to understand.

"I say you need water. I'm not giving you any land! Why should I?"

"We strong. You weak. We take you land."

Just then, I saw Mima run out of the hut. No! She shouldn't interfere now!

Mima walked up to her father and began begging. The girl had more spunk than I thought. From the fire light, I could see she had bruises on her mahogany skin. The tall Nubian yelled and shouted at her and Mima kept repeating the same thing.

"Girl say you give water we give captives. She say boy she friend. What you think Pharaoh?" He laughed and said some words to her. Mima said something in reply. Ryoo shook his head vigorously. What? Had the girl been teaching him her language?

"She said perhaps they trade only me but I couldn't go back to the others without you!" Ryoo explained.

I rolled my eyes. Ryoo was trying to be responsible.

"Maybe, we could make peace; seeing you daughter is friends with Ryoo," Atemu offered.

"You small captive come!" The tall Nubian ordered Ryoo.

"Mima…" Ryoo's eyes shone.

"Ryoo…" Mima put her arms around him, much to the disappointment of her father.

Then, Ryoo began talking softly to Mima in the strange language of the Nubians. It was rough and broken and he obviously only knew a little but I was amazed at it anyway.

Ryoo POV

"But… why… only save…. You?" Mima asked… well, actually, she said more. I just didn't understand it.

"I…" I fought for a word, "he…"

"He what?"

"I… I his… captive?" She stared at me strangely. That didn't sound right. "I like him?" That wasn't quite right either. "Um…"

She said something I didn't understand. I raised an eyebrow. She pointed at one of the Nubians and his spear and then at her father.

I wasn't sure what she meant but maybe…

Then she tried pointing at a boy who was holding a box belonging to her father and then to her father.

I nodded my head slowly but keeping a confused look on my face.

"In-between?"

"Yes!" I replied.

She stared at me… this was not going well… I didn't really have so much of an attachment to Nahkti… Just a weird sort loyalty since I owed him.

"Ryoo…"Atemu said, "What are you saying to her? Let's just get this over with before he changes his mind.

"I have to save Thief-sama."

"No, you can come with me. I'll take care of you and you can be with Yugi… You really want this."

I nodded. I really shouldn't ask so much.

"How much do you want for the other captive?" The Pharaoh asked.

"Land."

"How about I give you some things from the land."

"What?"

"Grain, water…"

"You give us much water. We give you captive."

"Alright. I give you water like this each moon."

"Alright."

Nahkti POV

I got up and walked over there.

"You had better be grateful, thief," The Pharaoh hissed at me. "You have just earned me a lot of trouble."

We all stayed at the village one more night and then left the next morning. Atemu and Yugi hopped on their camels and started riding away.

"Wait! You're going to make us walk all the way back!" I demanded.

"Yes! Why not? You've caused me enough problems! And maybe this can teach you how much Ryoo really cares about you!"

I raised an eyebrow at the kid who shrugged in response.

"We've got a long way back," I muttered as started.

We walked for a long time and took a nap around noon. Ra cursed Pharaoh! Did he have to make me walk… he could have at least given me some water! Set take it all!

We did not have to much trouble though. Around the third day, Ryoo started to become exhausted.

"C'mon! It's just a little farther!"

"I don't know if I can do it!"

Ryoo sat down.

"Get up you weakling!"

"I'm too tired."

"We can't rest Ryoo! It was by luck we happened upon that spring. If we don't get back to Kuru Eruna soon, we'll run out of water!"

I looked down. Ryoo was asleep. He never slept that fast. He must be really tired. I sighed and picked him up like a little ball of Ryoo.

I wondered why I even kept him around. It was sure save me a whole lot of trouble. Man! Ryoo hugged my neck. Oh cute ness u. I guess it was because Ryoo was so nice and … well… good... Compared to the others in my band. I smiled and Ryoo did too.