Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Gi Oh
Author's Notes: you know what? I always put author's notes, but im an authoress! Hmmmmm, I must amend that next chapter. Or now!
Authoress's Notes: That's better. Okay, I'm going to Germany this weekend for my uncles wedding anniversary. I make no promises about updating but I'll do my best. Im trying to convince my dad into letting me take my laptop. He's convinced it'll get nicked at the airport. If I can't take it, then I'll just draw pictures instead and read my mangas. Or try and make my own! A short comical sketch you understand.
Please understand that I had a real hard time writing this bit. I think… my minds still a bit broken. Btw, to those of you who don't know who Shimon is, its Yugi's grandpa (not in ancient Egypt though) He's the pharaohs advisor and used to hold the millennium key just so you know. And Romi is 17 now. I forgot her age as a kid so I made her 5.
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The Thieves of Ancient Egypt
Everyday Lives
12 years later
A small female figure silently made her way through the city's darkened alleys unseen. It was very late and she wasn't even supposed to be there. It was the first day of the New Year and she wasn't about to miss the dancing, the drinking and the all out celebrating because of a rule some stuck up high class 'hey look at me and do as I say because I'm important' guy said so. Romi had matured a lot over the years, physically at least. Her conduct however needed some work as she held very little respect for those 'above her' and was often told off for it by Shimon. He never really meant it though as she always made him laugh and had never been rude to him personally.
Over the last ten years, Romi had found living in the palace very boring. All she did was work, eat, sleep and work some more. There was no fun to be had, they constantly had 'superiors' breathing down their necks with snobbish remarks, and revenge had been very difficult to achieve because of the security of the place. This was the life that people dreamed of? To work yourself to death and have no life?
"If I had known it was going to be like this then I would have tried harder to convince my parents into letting me stay at home" she thought sourly.
The only reason why Romi stayed at the palace was because her mother and father wanted her to. She wanted to send her family letters to tell them how she was doing, but seeing as they couldn't read it was pretty pointless. So instead she had decided to send them odd things she had 'found' in the palace. Nothing major, just a few pieces of gold and silver here and there like jewellery, money, fine fabrics, and scented oils. Nothing much at all.
She had run into a merchant one day a few years ago that had regular business in the palace. Romi had asked him to do her the favour of delivering these items to her parents. The man agreed after a while, but he demanded over half her wages. Romi wasn't too thrilled about this arrangement but agreed anyway because she wanted her parents to know she was thinking of them, and he showed no signs of giving her a better deal. A strange expression had crossed his face when she told him the name of her village, but it disappeared before she could identify what it was. She remembered him smiling at her, bearing his crooked yellow teeth and holding out his hand to close the deal. It was almost as if he knew something she didn't.
Anyway, Romi was almost at her destination. It was a bar she had frequented since she was fifteen years old. It was a place where many people came to unwind after a hard days work, and she had worked very hard indeed. For the last twelve years actually. She breathed a sigh of relief as her watering hole came into view. She raised a hand and knocked on the door.
"Who is it? Whaddaya want?" asked a gruff voice on the other side.
"Guess" replied Romi with a grin.
She could hear the gruff voice chuckling. The door was unbolted and opened to reveal a rather large man with a wonky nose and scars all over his face. He bent over and bowed to her while trying to keep a straight face and received a playful punch in the shoulder for it. He had been doing this kind of thing ever since she told him she worked in the palace. Romi almost regretted it now. The joke was beginning to get a little thin.
"It's been a while since you last paid us a visit" said the man returning to his place behind the bar.
"Yeah? Well you try sneaking out of the palace with guards left right and center. I almost got caught this time; by one of the dumb ones can you believe" she replied.
"You're getting careless. There something on your mind? You never use to be like this" said the bartender.
"I'm not careless! And there's nothing wrong. Everything's fine, just mind your own business and give me something hard" snapped Romi.
The man complied and poured a strong alcoholic beverage into a cup for her. She picked it up and gulped it down in as if it were water. She blinked a few times and held back a cough and it took its effect on her. Her eyes watered a little bit but she composed herself.
"I'd be careful if I were you. If you almost got caught coming here, then imagine what'll happen when you go back completely legless" he warned.
"Meh…" Romi shrugged in response. "Gimme me another"
"Ok then" he said with a sigh.
Romi sat on her seat and turned around to watch everyone else in the place. They were all having a great time. They were in large groups, singing and dancing to the music that filled the air. Romi had secretly hoped to herself that when she arrived at the bar she would begin to feel like celebrating the New Year. But it wasn't working out the way she had planned. She felt as miserable as she did this morning.
She took a large gulp of the strong smelling liquor in her hands and closed her eyes tight again at the burning sensation in her throat. Her head began to scream warnings to her, which thankfully she decided to heed. As much as she hated to admit it, the man was right. If she kept knocking back drink after drink, then she wouldn't be able to get back into the palace without getting caught. If they found out she had been 'wandering' she would be in trouble. She slowly turned to her friend.
"Alright fine, give me something that's not gonna leave me vomiting in the morning. I still have to work for our dear beloved pharaoh" she said sarcastically. "I don't need to drink to have fun anyway"
"Its funny how you're only talking sense now that you've had a few. Usually it's the other way around" laughed the bartender. "The entertainers should be arriving soon. Maybe you'll feel better then. The night is still young"
"Yeah whatever" she muttered. "They'd better be good to cheer me up especially with the mood im in right now"
888888888888888888888888888888888 a couple of hours later
Romi had decided to leave the party earlier then planned. Even with the entertainment, which was very good, she just didn't feel in the mood to celebrate. She didn't know what was wrong with her. It had only been this past week she had felt like this. Usually she was an upbeat, make the best of the situation kind of person.
Romi silently made her way to spot she had made her temporary escape from the confines of the palace. It was far away from the front gates, away from the prying eyes of the guards. Occasionally someone passed by, but not too often. A lot of the guards were very lazy which was a good thing for her. Romi reached into a nearby pot where she had hidden a rope for her return. It wouldn't do for someone to see a rope hanging from the palace wall. It would cause too much of a commotion. On the end of the rope was a metal hook she had 'borrowed' from someone without permission.
Looking to see if the coast was clear, Romi made her move. She swung the rope around a few times before letting it go so the hook caught the top of the wall. Romi was used to this by now as she had done it many times before. Her upper body strength was quite unusual for a woman. She quickly heaved herself up until she reached the top. Gathering the rope together she looped it over her shoulder. She ran along the wall until she came to a point where she could climb onto a tree, which was conveniently in close proximity. It was a bit of a jump but she made it with no problems.
She climbed down and crept amongst the bushes taking care not to catch the attention of the patrolling guards. Finally after five or ten minutes of stealthy prowess she came to the dormitories. She silently made her way through the hallway until she reached her room. She slid inside and closed the door behind her. She had made it once again.
Leaning up against it for a moment, she removed her cloak. She threw it to the side somewhere and pulled off her white peasants dress. She rummaged through her drawer to find something comfortable to sleep in. Once dressed, she crawled into bed, smiling at the softness of the blankets. It was a pleasantly warm night with a slight breeze. The crescent moon shone in through the window illuminating her face. It was times like these that she felt at peace and wished that time would stop. She closed her eyes, trying to make the most of this tranquil solitude before she had to get up and face another day.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888 next day
Romi worked in the library putting scrolls in their rightful places. It didn't look like such a hard job, but there were a lot of scrolls to go through and they weren't clearly labelled. She knew who was responsible for this.
"Baal" thought Romi angrily.
He knew it was her turn to do this job and deliberately made a mess so she would have to check the scrolls, therefore wasting her free time doing it. She had better things to do then clean up his mess! She gritted her teeth as she continued with her work, but stopped suddenly when she felt an arrogant presence behind her. She turned around to see Baal smirking at her.
He studied Romi from the doorway, his arms folded against his chest. She was wearing the scribe uniform which was a red dress with a blue band across the top and the bottom. Her long layered hair came to below her shoulder blades and her amber eyes shone with a glint of fury at him.
"What do you want?" growled Romi, turning back to the scrolls.
"Aren't you finished yet? Look, if this job is too hard for you, then maybe you should just quit. I'll understand you know" he mocked bringing him back from his reverie.
"Yeah? Well maybe you should quit too Baal. If you can't even label the scrolls properly, then what hope do you have? I think I've shown great skill as I've been able to understand the mess that is your writing"
"You little sh…!"
Shimon walked in just at that moment. "Ah Romi. Aren't you finished that yet? You're supposed to be writing something up for me this evening"
"I'm very sorry Shimon. Some idiot can't label properly. I've had to go through all these documents to make sure everything's in the right place. It's taken me all morning"
"Well thankyou Romi. That's very good of you. Any idea who this person is? I'll have to have a word with them" said Shimon.
Romi shot a glance at Baal who had turned red with anger. "I've no idea, but whoever it was must be very stupid. It's not like they were given a hard job or anything."
"Yes you're right" replied Shimon. "It's a wonder they're still here if they can't do something as simple as this… are you alright Baal?"
Shimon looked at Baal in concern at his clenched fist and pursed his lips together. He didn't like to be talked about in this way and it hurt his pride. Even if he had done it on purpose!
"Yes sir. Everything's fine. I'm Just feeling a little ill" he lied.
"Maybe you should get some rest" suggested Romi in a sickeningly sweet and concerned tone. "Maybe it's the heat. You must be sensitive to it. Go and rest. We wouldn't want anything to happen to you now would we?"
That was another blow to his pride! He wasn't weak! Nor was he sensitive to the heat! She was just doing this to humiliate his masculinity. In front of one of the officials as well! That Romi was Shimon's favourite and she knew how to work him. She had him wrapped around her little finger and he didn't even know it.
"I'll be fine. Im going to return to my work, if you excuse me"
Baal bowed his head to Shimon and shot a glare at Romi who smirked back. She would surely pay for that later, but she would have her revenge in her own little way. Maybe a few false rumours were in order.
8888888888888888888888888888 night time somewhere else in Egypt
"Another nights work, a complete success!" laughed a white haired man.
He jumped off of his black horse and towards a group of men sitting around a campfire near an oasis. They watched him expectantly. He threw down a huge bag in front of them, the contents spilling out onto the sand. The men all gathered around the gold and jewels and greedily examined them, voicing their obvious joy.
The white haired man made his way over to his spot and slumped down, leaning his back against a large rock. He reached into a nearby bag and grabbed a chunk of bread, tearing into it with his teeth. With his other hand, he removed his hood that he wore whilst robbing. He had a distinguishing scar on his right cheek below his eye. He wore a long red coat with a beige one underneath and a black kilt. He was very well built. It was obvious that he was very physical in his line of work. The years of robbing tombs had obviously done wonders for his stomach and chest.
His most recent trip had been to the valley of the queens. He had found their tombs to be filled with nearly as much riches as the pharaohs. That and the fact that it was an easy job. Not that he wanted it easy all the time. He wanted a challenge, but seeing as he was the most skilled thief in Egypt, challenges were hard to come by. If there was a trap nearby, he knew about it. He couldn't explain why, that was just how it was.
"I would have imagined they'd come up with more original traps then that" he thought with a smirk, looking at a tiny minuscule scrape on his wrist. "It's almost as if they want their nobility to enter the afterlife as beggars"
"Master Bakura!" his attention was brought back to one of the men calling his name.
"What?" he asked in a bored tone, taking another bite of the bread.
"The men want to know if they can go and clear out the rest of the loot"
"Whatever" he shrugged. "The traps there are so simple; a newborn could work them out"
The men let out exited shouts and jumped to their feet, climbing on their horses. They gathered themselves a few empty bags to bring the treasure back in and attached their scimitars to their belts. They were about to ride off when their master stopped them.
"Don't get caught! If any of you are stupid enough to be seen by the pharaoh's soldiers, then you don't deserve to be called a thief! And I will not come back for you. You're on your own from now on" he warned staring each man in the eye wit ha cold stare.
Bakura was a well respected leader and they understood perfectly that he meant every word he said. Despite knowing that he would leave them to rot if the time ever came, they felt privileged that they were even allowed into his inner circle. With him on their side they became very rich, very quickly. As long as they didn't get on the wrong side of him.
They nodded to him in understanding and galloped off towards the tomb Bakura had just raided in the queen's valley. He had just said it was easy hadn't he? The traps were similar to ones they had encountered before in previous raids? The men were a little over confident and decided amongst themselves that they need only take this one trip to clear the tomb.
Bakura watched them ride into the distance, knowing full well that they would never return alive. He smirked to himself as he stood up and gathered the gold he had collected. He threw it over his back and jumped onto his horse. He pulled the reigns and sped of in the opposite direction to spend his 'well earned' money on luxury inns and harems. This amount would only last a month or so, but that was enough time to plan his next move.
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You know what? I think this turned out better then I thought. You got to know about Romi and Bakura made an entrance too. isn't Bakura nasty? He's eliminating the competition and just being nasty by sending men to their death. Oh and btw, if you didn't catch the hint, Baal find Romi quite attractive. You'll see in later chapters that he want to 'tame her'
The story is all coming together now. Im getting into it a bit more. I have loads of new ideas. Especially about that merchant…
Review please. Thankyou very much.