Zypher: Ok, it's been forever since I updated so I will get my butt in gear and get on with this chapter. Enjoy to your heart's content.

Sunset's Rose

Chapter 2

The next day, Yugi woke up to the shining sun and got up from bed. He rubbed his eyes quietly before remembering who he was going to meet. He smiled and went to get cleaned and dressed for today.

Once they found a place to stay later last night, Yami stayed up, going through plans to get to the bank. 'But the problem is, what will Yugi think if he finds out I'm an outlaw?' he thought as he got up from bed, falling asleep after his latest plans. The door opened and Aqua walked inside, yawning. "So, Yami, what are we planning for today?" he asked as he sat at the table.

"Well, I still want to plan out the bank heist so we won't be doing that for a while but I want you guys to come with me and meet someone." Yami said as he craned his neck, getting the soreness from sleeping in the chair for the night.

"So, who exactly are we meeting?" Aqua asked as they left the room. "We're meeting a boy named Yugi. He happened to interest me when I learned about him from his grandfather who runs the local general store in Pyre's Gulch." Yami said as he woke up everyone with either a nudge or a swift kick to the side.

"Ow! What was that for?" Bakura yelled as he sat up from the worn couch that was left in the old home a few miles outside from Pyre's Gulch. "We're heading back into town to meet someone and his friends. Get ready." Yami said before leaving out, heading to where they placed their horses for the night. "So, who exactly are we meeting?" Seto asked as he sat up.

"We're meeting a boy he met at the general store. So we hope we can trust Bakura, Marik, Crimson and Toben not to make a fool of themselves." Aqua said and that got a glare from them as he left the room. "Alright, stop glaring and come on before you're left here." Ruby said and they nodded as they left.

After Yugi got his friends, glad that Diamond and Ryou were off from work today, they waited at the general store. "Ok, so why are we waiting for this guy? You barely know him. What happens if he's an outlaw or something?" Malik asked. "Don't worry, Yami's an ok guy. He told me a lot about himself last night so we shouldn't have nothing to worry about." Yugi said, trying to reassure his friend.

"Listen to Yugi, Malik. If he says Yami isn't that bad then we should believe him." Diamond said. He sighed but nodded. "Alright, I'll believe you, Yugi, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to keep watch over him. One slip up and he going to be kept away from you for a long while." Malik said and that got a playful punch in the arm from the smaller teen.

They heard the pounding of hooves coming closer and they look up to see Yami along with the others coming towards them. Yugi got up once they got there and Yami hopped off Kuroi's back. "It's nice to see you again, Yugi." Yami said. Yugi smiled and ran over to him, giving him a hug. "It nice to see you as well, Yami." Yugi said.

Diamond smiled lightly. "Now there's a cute picture. See Malik, nothing will happen to Yugi and from the looks of it, Yami will make sure of it." Diamond said. Malik sighed before he nodded. "Alright, I can trust him but I don't know about the others." he said, looking to the others but kept his eye on Marik. Marik looked to him as well before dismounting off Aeld's, his golden-chestnut Halflinger's, back.

He walked over to Malik and looked him over before smirking lightly. "So, what's your name?" he asked. Malik wasn't going to respond until he got a nudge from Diamond and he growled lightly. "My name's Malik. What's yours?" he asked. "I'm Marik and I have a feeling we may get along well." he said and Malik nodded slightly, still not trusting him yet.

The others got off their mounts and walked over to them. Crimson quickly made his way over to Diamond. "Hey, I remember seeing you yesterday. I tried to catch up to you but your mare was pretty quick." Crimson said.

She turned to him and gave him a sheepish smile. "Really? I didn't know anyone was behind me and Nikki yesterday. I just was so tired with having bank duty and all yesterday. Being deputy to a town that barely gets robbed by bands of outlaws or gangs is tiring in it's own way. I'm glad I didn't have to go in today." Diamond said.

Yami heard this and was slightly shocked to hear that one of Yugi's friends watched over the bank. 'Well, at least we know who we need to watch out for. Now the problem will be how to keep her from finding out what we are going to do. That will break Yugi's heart if he find out we're outlaws.' Yami thought before making a suggestion about riding out of town for a while.

"Sure! We can go and show you the spot we go to relax after a hard day of work." Yugi said. "Wait here while we go and get our horses." Kaiser said as they left, unaware that Ruby was watching him as he left. Yami turned to them. "Well, we definitely need to keep ourselves secret when we get to the point of robbing the bank here. I do not want to hurt Yugi's feelings if his friend finds out we're the ones robbing the bank." Yami said.

"Why do you care so much? Normally you don't care about anything when it comes to doing a heist of any kind." Bakura said.

"Well, I care now. When I first met Yugi, I knew there was something about him that makes me want to protect him from harm of any kind, whether it's Pegasus, Keith or emotional pain and I'm not going to be the cause of the latter." Yami said. Bakura snorted before heading back to Tindalos, his biacone colored thoroughbred.

"Well, I can only tell you this, Yami, don't get too attached to him. We are outlaws and we can't stay in one place for long. Getting attached to him will only resolve in a big heartbreak if not something worse." Bakura said before mounting his horse. Yami looked down silently, knowing he was right. Kuroi walked over to him and nudged his shoulder, nickering lightly.

Yami gently stroked the horse's snout lightly as Yugi and the other came back on their horses. "Ready to go?" Jou asked and they nodded. They started to head out of town. Yugi looked over to Yami saw that he looked downcast about something and had Hikari walk closer to him. "Is something wrong, Yami?" Yugi asked. He looked to him and gave him a small smile.

"It's nothing, Yugi. Just thinking about something Bakura told me earlier. Nothing for you to worry about." Yami said. Yugi nodded but was still worried about what he was thinking about.

Outside the town, a silver haired man watched as they left. 'So, this is where Yami and his crew is hiding. And from the looks of it, it seems he has a liking to one of the teens he is with. Maybe I can use this to my advantage.' The man thought before looking to the rest of his band.

"Alright everyone. Yami and his crew is here in Pyre's Gulch so we will have to be careful when doing this heist. I want two of you to head into town and learn more about the boy and his friends that he is with. Once you do, come back to me and we'll make out a plan on how to capture them for I believe that is his weakness now." Pegasus said and they nodded. As he said, two of them headed into town, waiting for the time when Yami and the others came back.

On the other side of town, Keith and his men were waiting for the right time to make a move towards the town. "So, when are we going to make a move, boss?" Bones asked. "We will soon enough. I already send Syd down there to scout and find out who does bank duty and what days he or she supposed to be off. When we find that out, all we need is a distraction and the money's ours." Keith said. He nodded.

"But what happens if Yami and his crew is targeting the same town?" he asked as an afterthought. "We'll just deal with them first. If Pegasus is targeting this town as well then there will be no problem getting the money since they will focus their attention on him the most." Keith said. He nodded once more before he left off to set up camp.

Once they reached the clearing, they talked with each other, learning more about one another. It was getting close to dusk when they finished and having to break up an incoming fight between Seto and Jou because of a nickname he gave him. "Well, I hope we can see you again one day." Yami said. "Well, you can always come by tomorrow if you like." Yugi said. "That's sounds alright." Crimson said as he stood beside Diamond.

"Are you going to be with him tomorrow?" he asked her. "I wish I could but I have bank duty again. I really don't want to be stuck in a stuffy bank house again but you never know when a gang or a band of outlaws will come." Diamond said, never seeing his flinch when she said that. "Well, I hope I can see you again when you're off duty again." Crimson said and she nodded before calling Nikki over.

She mounted on her back and looked to her friends. "Come on and let's get home." she said and they nodded as they mounted their own horses and left, waving back to them as they left. Yami sighed and Aqua looked to him. "Something wrong, Yami?" he asked. "I just can't shake off the feeling of not robbing the bank there. I mean, it was the set plan we had but ever since meeting Yugi changed that and I don't want to hurt him by letting him know I'm a outlaw that's only here to rob the bank and leave just as quickly." Yami said as he walked over to Kuroi and mounted onto his back.

Aqua brought Shadow over as he went to stand beside him. "I know how you feel, Yami. I felt the same when I met him but like Bakura said, we can't get too attached to him or else we may put him in danger. Pegasus and Keith is still after us you know." Aqua said and he nodded. "I know. Come on, let's get back to the hideout." Yami said and Kuroi trotted off.

Aqua mounted Shadow's back just as Seto came by with Fier, his bay colored Friesian. "Yami really has feelings for Yugi doesn't he?" Seto asked. Aqua nodded. "Yeah and so do I. He's really down that he can't make the decision to be with Yugi and keep the truth from him as well. Don't you feel the same for Jou, seeing as you happen to give him a nickname as soon as you talked to him?" Aqua asked as they walked off, the others trailing ahead.

"Yes I do. There's something about Jou that gets to me. With his attitude almost reminds me of my brother." Seto said before sighing lightly, remembering what happen a long time ago. Aqua patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, we will find him soon. Once we locate Pegasus or Keith, we'll follow them back to their hideouts and we'll get him back." Aqua said and he nodded before trotting off, Aqua following behind him.

Bakura and Marik was trailing behind Yami, each of them having their thoughts on one of Yugi's friends. "Oy, I can't get that boy out of my mind. What is it that could be so special about him." Bakura finally spoke, catching Marik's attention. "Who?" he asked. "Ryou, the boy that looked like me. Ever since meeting him I can't get him out of my mind." he said.

Tindalos snorted lightly, getting him a flick of his ear. "Shut it, Tindalos." he said before Marik spoke. "Well, maybe you like him just like Yami likes Yugi." Marik said.

"It can't be that. Why would I like him?" Bakura said. Crimson came by with Vander. "Don't try to deny your feelings for him, Bakura. If you like him then say so." Crimson said. "But I don't!" he retorted. "Fine, keep denying it but soon, you will regret it. Most of us has found an interest in Yugi's friends and no matter what the cost, we would still like them." Crimson said before continuing on his way.

"He is right you know. If you truly do love or like Ryou, then it's best to admit it before something happens. We still have Pegasus and Keith on our tail and you don't want him to be captured like Mokuba was. We all don't want that. Think it over." Marik said before Aeld moved on.

Bakura sighed and continued to think about those choices as Tindalos continued on back to the hideout.

Zypher: Well, that's all for this chapter. Pegasus and Keith made their appearance and Yami along with the others is having a few problems with their feeling for Yugi and his friends. Oh whatever will they do? Well, you'll find out in the next chapter. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, please review.

Note to readers: Ok, I having some problems with a name for Yami and his group. Can you give me some suggestions for names.