Acknowledgements: Thanks once again to everyone who's R&R so far. I hope you don't mind that it takes me like two weeks to update, but I've got a lot of stuff going on in my life at the moment. I've been helping my step dad with the move since my mom's not strong enough to carry anything, lol, and I work at festivals and celebrations for the 4th of July, so I'm always a bit busy around this time of year. I'm going to camp on July 17th (can't wait!), so I probably won't update for about three weeks after this.

Pertaining to the story: There's one part where Kepi says "'then you've just seen the tip of the iceberg'". I know they probably wouldn't use such a saying in Anciet Egypt, but I couldn't think of another quote with the same meaning, lol.

Desert Fury

Payback's A Bitch

"Yes, I'm damn sure! He-" she didn't have time to finish as a pounding on her door drew both girls' attention, and the voice of their father bellowed from the hall.

"Kepi, Mehnit, open this door NOW!" the village leader was fuming. He couldn't believe his daughters' hostility. Never had they treated such an important guest in a most disrespecful manner.

This was not going as Nsu had planned. He had hoped that he could unite the thieves of the North and South by way of marriage. If they despised eachother from the get go, it would be a hard task to sway the girls' one-tracked minds. He knew the Thief King and Desert Fury were bitter rivals, but maybe with some time, they could overcome their differences.

Beside the aging man stood the rest of his family as well as the Thief King and his accomplice, Malik. Bakura seemed to be seething, but the village leader couldn't quite blame him. A woman he didn't even know had just punched him square in the face for all to see. That must have put a major dent in his pride. The Thief king, no doubt, was a very proud man. Malik, on the other hand, looked thoughtful but stern. One would think he was almost bored with the whole ordeal at first glance.

"Girls, I'm warning you..." their father threatened in a dangerously calm voice.

He heard shuffling from beyond the door, and the click of the handle as Kepi swung it open to reveal herself in her thieving attire. Mehnit stood a little ways back still dressed in her finest garments, a slightly confused expression graced her features as she raised her eyebrows to give an inquisitive stare.

Kepi's eyes scanned the small crowd before her, lingering on the two manly figures beside her father. Her crimson hues flared, and she had to bite her lip to keep from snapping out a rude remark. Instead, she resorted to slamming the door in everyone's faces, or she tried at least. Before she had the chance to close the door all the way, a foot lodged itself between the door and it's frame.

Kepi stumbled back as the owner of the foot kicked the door the rest of the way open, almost hitting her in the process. She gave a heated glare, this time unable to control her actions.

"You stupid, conceited asshole!" the girl screeched, lunging at the Thief King and throwing a punch.

This time, however, Bakura was ready for her and easily caught her hand. He heard her emit a low growl and smirked at her obvious frusteration. With a jerking movement, he yanked her towards him and kneed her hard in the stomach, sending her flying to the floor at the feet of her twin. The raven haired girl let out a loud yelp and clutched her abdomen, cringing in intense pain.

Bakura frowned as she coughed up blood. Had he really hit her that hard? He hadn't meant to hurt her so badly. Oh well, this just proved his point. Girls were weak and powerless, only good for house work, repopulation, and bed warming. Besides, this bitch needed to be taught a lesson. No one hits the Thief King, especially a worthless woman.

Bakura grimaced at the thought. This girl had caught him off guard the first time, a foolish mistake which he would not repeat. Despite her gender, she had punched him pretty hard. Any harder and she might have broken his jaw. It still ached from the impact.

"You jackass, look what you did to her!" the voice of the silver haired girl brought the Thief King back from his thoughts.

"Well, if she hadn't attacked him, she wouldn't have gotten hurt," Malik retorted acidly.

The girl, Mehnit, was helping her sister off the ground. Her twin didn't seem to be doing too good. She was panting heavily, and her hand was beginning to become drenched with a thick, red substance from the injury. Now that definitely couldn't have been done by Bakura (ME: Or so he thinks shifty eyes). When the girl pulled her hand away, he noticed that, indeed, it hadn't. The blood was flowing from a stab wound, which Bakura hadn't noticed before. His kick must have reopened it.

"Hey, mister, you hurt my sister," a small voice scrutinized.

Bakura slowly let his dull purple eyes drop to find a small girl no older than 7 or 8 summers glaring up at him. She had ebony hair tied up in two pig tails, and cold, chilling blue eyes like that of her assumed sister, Mehnit. She was quite small and only came up to about Bakura's thigh, yet she showed no fear of the grown man before her.

"Oh, little girl, and what are you going to do about it?" the Thief King sneered, towering over the small girl pretentiously.

Glowering up at the man, Afrikaisi scrunched up her face and gave him the dirtiest look her relatively unintimidating features could muster. Without warning, she swung her leg up and kicked Bakura hard in the shin, gaining a satisfying cry of pain from the thief king. The girl beamed proudly with her accomplishment, but her jovial grin was soon wiped off her face as Bakura quickly recovered from her rather impotent assault and made a move to clutch her throat. With a shrill shriek, she rapidly retreated and ran in to her sister's protective embrace.

"Come back here, you little brat!" Bakura snarled, advancing towards the frightened girl being held in the raven haired girl's arms.

"You will not touch her," Kepi vociferated in a deadly voice, drawing out her sais, and pushing Kaisi towards Mehnit.

"And what exactly do you think you can do about it?" the thief king jeered, eying her weapons.

"I can kick your a-" Kepi was cut off as her father butt in.

"Enough! Kepi, Mehnit, behave yourselves, and you too Kaisi. Bakura, if you would please..." Nsu motioned for the young thief king to back off, which he reluctantly did but continued to stare daggers at the girls.

Mehnit sat down on the bed and pulled her little sister onto her lap. Kepi, however, would not back down. If looks could kill, Bakura would be long gone. The raven haired girl glared intently into the thief king's purple orbs. They held a look of malice and strong hatred. Kepi made a move to step towards him but was held back by her father.

Nsu gave his daughter a warning glance, clearly stating his meaning. After a moments silence, she finally averted her gaze and resheathed her weapons, taking a seat by her twin on the bed; although she kept her hand on one of her many daggers, eying the two intruding thieves with distrust.

"Now, what seems to be the problem here?" the village leader questioned authoratively.

"Are you blind? I. HATE. HIM," Kepi elucidated, accentuating the last three words.

"I can see that, but why did you punch him when he had done nothing to you at the time?" her father inquired.

"Has done nothing to me? He is the source of ALL my problems and ALL my pain!" the crimson eyed girl screeched, losing control of her ever rising temper. With clenched fists, she abruptly stood up from the bed, her eyes a flaming inferno. "You know I despise him, you know we're rivals, yet you invite him to our home? I can't believe you!" Kepi shrieked incredulously, now visibly shaking with rage.

"Kepi, don't talk to your father that way," her mother berated, making herself known in the argument.

"I'll do whatever I damn well please, so just leave me the hell alone!" the girl riposted, brushing past everyone and storming out the door before any one could stop her.

Kepi could hear the shouts of her parents beckoning her to come back, but she ignored them. She wanted to be alone right now; no, she needed to be alone right now. The young woman felt her legs beginning to tire, but she continued to sprint until she reached the outer field of the hideout and weaved through the trees to find her small thinking spot by a secret waterfall.

The village of Kemet was hidden inside the cliffs of a valley, but the outer field was on the side of the cliff, revealed to the outside world. It was high enough up on the cliff though that no one could see what was up there unless they scaled the walls of the valley (ME: I drew a vague pic of Kemet. It's on my homepage if you wanna see. Sorry, I'm not the best with drawing on computers.) The outer field consisted of a large plain where the villagers usually practiced their fighting skills, and it even had a river running through it, but there was also a small forest-like part, which took up about a third of the plain. Kepi had once found a waterfall in the forest and often came there to be alone or just to think. She liked the piece and solitude.

'How could he? I fear these are not going to be pleasant upcoming weeks. How long are they staying anyway? Well, at least it gives me some time to get back at that bastard, Bakura. If father thinks I'm going to be a nice, sweet little girl like I should, then he's got another thing coming. No way in the seven realms of Osiris am I going to stand by and do nothing while Bakura freely roams around my village like he owns the damn place,' Kepi huffed angrily, punching a nearby tree. She winced in pain as the wound on her stomach burned in agony.

'Damn that Bakura. My wound opened up again, and it's all his fault. Everything is his fault. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have any rivals. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be suffering such pain. If it weren't for him, I would be the greatest thief in Egypt!' the crimson eyed girl growled in her mind and slammed her fist back into the tree, the bark falling away to reveal the tanned wood beneath it's surface.

Kepi's knuckles split open, her warm blood trickled down her hand and fell soundlessly to the ground. She noticed that her stab wound was still producing quite a bit of the crimson liquid also. If she didn't rebandage it soon, she would probably collapse from blood loss. Her head was already beginning to feel faint and dizzy.

"I thought you would be here. You should redress your injury," the voice of Mehnit admonished from behind.

"Yeah, I know," Kepi replied simply, turning to face her. Mehnit had changed into her thieving outfit as well.

"I'm assuming father is furious?"

Mehnit nodded her head in confirmation. "That little fit back there probably wasn't very smart on your part. He'll probably lecture us until our ears bleed," the silver haired girl sighed heavily.

Kepi just barely managed to get out a slight nod, swaying dangerously on her feet. Her head was spinning, and her vision was blurring. She couldn't take it anymore. The girl stumbled back but caught herself, holding on to the tree she had previously been punching for support. She could hardly hear her sister calling out her name. Her crimson hues slid back into her head, and her knees buckled beneath her as she fell into the dark.

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The thief king lay comfortably on his bed in his new room. It was large and well furnished, decorated in a red and gold theme. The walls were a deep blood red, golden heiroglyphics hand painted onto it. His bed sheets were the same color as the walls and made of the finest silk. A huge bathroom was connected to his bed chambers and was made of all gold.

Before going to his room, Bakura had checked out Malik's as well. It was exactly the same except for the color scheme, which was black and silver. In general, the rooms were pretty nice. There was only one extremely negative aspect about them. The fact that they were directly across from the two girls' rooms did not exactly blow over very well with the young king of thieves.

Bakura had to admit he wasn't all too pleased when Nsu had shown him to his room, walking a mere five feet across the hall. That raven haired bitch was going to make his life a living hell while he was here, and having to sleep directly across from her, would make her dirty deeds that much easier to carry out.

Bakura was highly intrigued with this girl. Her steadfast determination and headstrong attitude was appealing. They were admirable traits for a woman, foolish as they may be. She neither felt intimidated nor feared Bakura's violent offenses. Most women the thief king had met, fled at the slightest dirty look. She was, however, the former thief king's daughter.

What had also caught Bakura's attention was the girl's choice of weapons and the words she had spoken. She had the same type of swords the man from Desert Fury had carried, and clearly stated that he, Bakura, was her rival. Rival in what though? Surely she was not a tomb robber, and even if she was, her skills couldn't possibly compare to that of the thief king's, could they?

'Maybe she's one of the Desert Fury's woman? It's a good possibility because there's no way in hell a woman could be my greatest rival,' the young thief king concluded. 'Speaking of Desert Fury, Nsu never brought me to them. Oh well, I've got plenty of time. I might as well rest up until then.'

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Malik stared up at the canvas of his bed deep in thought. This girl, Mehnit, she seemed familiar somehow, but he couldn't recall ever seeing her before in his life. Surely he would have remembered her if he had. The other girl, who's name he had yet to learn, seemed to know Bakura, but he apparently didn't know her either.

None of this made sense. It didn't add up. Malik racked his brain for answers but found none. Finally deciding to abandon this fruitless quest, he figured that they would have plenty of time to sort this all out before they left, whenever that would be. Exhausted from his long journey, he found himself quickly falling into a dreamless slumber, unaware as to what he would awake to.

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Kepi awoke to a light shaking of her shoulder. Groggily opening her eyes, she found herself staring up into the cold blue eyes of her sister.

"Are you feeling better?" Mehnit questioned, a look of concern crossing her face.

Kepi looked down to see her upper half bandaged once again, a small amount of blood bleeding through. The wound itself still stung quite a bit, but she was feeling considerably better and nodded to show this.

"That's good. Mother ordered us to wake the two idiots across the hall for breakfast, so we better get going," the blue eyed girl expounded, turning to complete her task.

"They're across the hall?" Kepi queried, disbelief evident in her voice.

"Unfortunately, yes."

Kepi muttered a line of incoherant curses under her breath but got out of bed none the less. After donning her thieving clothes and weapons, she followed her sister out the door and across the hall.

"I'll wake up Malik, you can get Bakura," Mehnit stated sourly before disappearing into the bed chambers of the blond haired thief.

'Oh joy,' Kepi thought sarcastically, barging into Bakura's room, not bothering to be quiet.

She stopped in her tracks once she'd entered. The thief king was leaning his back against the head board, his eyes closed to the world around him. He had apparently fallen asleep in that position, for he was sitting on top of the silken bed sheets. Kepi blushed at his appearance. He wore nothing but his shenti, revealing a strong upper torso.

When she arrived at his side, she suddenly felt a strong urge to touch him. He looked so much more innocent and less menacing in this current state. His face no longer held signs of malice or scorn but an expression of peace and contentment. A vertical scar with two horizontal ones crossing through it rested under his right eye. Kepi hadn't noticed it before now and wondered how he had acquired them. They gave him a slightly rugged countenance, but this somehow only added to his handsome appearance.

'Woah, back up. Handsome? Since when do I think such things of a man, and the thief king for Ra's sake?' she mentally slapped herself for thinking so crudely.

Abandoning all thoughts that had occupied her mind, she returned to the task at hand. In an attempt to awake the sleeping thief king, she roughly shook his shoulder. This antic proved pointless as he didn't even stir. After yelling in his ear, slapping him, pinching his nose and covering his mouth, she was finally on the verge of giving up this seemingly impossible feat until an idea came to her on a whim.

Chuckling evily, she retreated to the bathroom and returned a few moments later carrying a bucket filled to the brim with freezing water.

"Don't say I didn't try," she warned to no one particular as she dumped the bucket's contents onto Bakura's head.

A loud yell could be heard throughout the whole of Kemet as Bakura awoke with a start and scrambled off his bed. He was drenched to the bone and shivering from the cold as cool air blew over him. His eyes blazed as he caught sight of the culprit, bucket still in hand.

"You!" he snarled, glaring daggers at the smirking girl, "what the hell was that for?"

"You wouldn't wake up, you lazy ass, so I had to resort to drastic measures. Besides, you needed a bath anyway to get rid of that vile odor you emit," the raven haired girl explained, her smirk growing wider. "Breakfast is being served, so I suggest you hurry up."

Without another word, Kepi turned on her heel and walked out the door. She could feel Bakura boring holes into her back as she went. She distinctly heard the words kill and bitch as she stepped out into the hall. Just as she shut the door to his room, another strangled cry came from the bed chamber next door. Kepi grinned with amusement. She would have to ask Mehnit what she did to Malik at breakfast.

Starting off the day in high spirits, considering her situation, she made her way towards the dining hall, a new spring to her step. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

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Kepi and Mehnit had some good laughs as they recounted their morning 'adventures' with eachother during breakfast. Mehnit had used similar strategies to awaken the slumbering Malik, and he had not taken kindly to it. Kepi failed, however, to mention the peculiar thoughts that had raided her mind when she had entered the thief king's domain. She decided that it would be best to keep such things to herself.

The thunk of a person taking a seat across from her brought the young Desert Phoenix out of her thoughts. Her gleeful mood quickly dropped as she noticed who it was.

"What, do you want?" Kepi spat venomously, her eyes narrowing at the white haired fiend before her. Beside him sat his parter-in-crime, Malik.

"What we want is to know what you two have against us. As far as I know, neither of us have seen either of you before yesterday," Bakura queried, obviously trying to contain his anger.

"Well, for one, you don't have to see someone to hate them. For two, you have seen us before, and for three, if you think what we're doing now is bad, then you've just seen the tip of the iceberg. Payback's a bitch, ain't it?" Kepi scoffed indignantly.

"Payback? Payback for what?" Malik questioned, thoroughly confused.

The crimson eyed girl's attention was now directed elsewhere though as she noticed her sister looking beyond the two tomb robbers before them. Following Mehnit's gaze, Kepi let out a low growl as she realized the identity of impending figures.

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Who are these mysterious figures, and what do they want? You'll have to find out in my next update -. Ta ta