A/N: I am SO sorry for taking so long! Please forgive my shoddy timing for writing! School has been a real curse and, like I said to you before (I think), I'm in my final year of school so it's not easy. I just finished my mock exams (seven days of exams, ahh!) not long ago and I got a couple of days off. After relaxing for a bit, I took out my story and got into writing it again! And it was fun. I had this part (and up to part twenty) done but I lost them. It's really hard to rewrite something if you're happy with it the first time, but I like how this came out. This is actually my favourite version of this part (I had about five). I hope you enjoy!
Sorry again for taking so long. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I couldn't do this without you!
This part starts with the continuation of the flashback in the last chapter. The flashback ends with '-x-x-x-'. R&R folks!
Part Eight
Goosebumps rose on the pharaoh's exposed arms from the cool air and he suppressed a shiver. Yami's sharp violet eyes remained focused on his opponent, whom he noticed was sizing him up. Yami's suspicions grew when a wry smirk pulled across Bakura's chapped lips. Bakura had noticed something that boosted his chances of winning. The thief's gaze locked with the pharaoh's.
"My, my," Bakura spoke causally, throwing Yami's senses on high alert with the quick thought of, 'What is he up to?'. Bakura continued. "I was expecting a worthy battle with a worthy foe, but you disappoint me," he sneered.
"What are to babbling about?" Yami barked, taking a step to one side. Bakura mimicked this action and the two circled each other.
"What kind of foe turns up to battle an Item user with just a blade?" Bakura's smirk grew as Yami's angered expression switched to one of worry.
"Y-you have a Millennium Item?" Yami stuttered in astonishment, pausing in his step. "You can't! The Millennium Items are only given by the Gods to people who are pure of heart!"
"Well then I guess they made a mistake." Bakura laughed evilly and reached inside his tunic, pulling out the golden Item and holding it in the moonlight for the pharaoh to see. "Pharaoh, meet my Ring," he said mockingly and dropped the Item to his chest. Yami's eyes widened and were glued to the Item around the Master Thief's neck. His fear was soon overcome with immense anger.
"How did you get the Millennium Ring?" Yami demanded, his authoritative voice booming in the silence. "Tell me!"
"You want the story? I'll gladly tell you, for it will only cause you pain." Bakura twisted the hilt of his blade in his hands. "I stole it from that Mage of yours." Yami's expression remained hard. The mage that Bakura spoke of was one of Yami's oldest friends, Mahaddo. The man was older than Yami, but younger than Bakura, and had left the palace a year ago to travel and learn stronger magic. His assistant, Mana, a young, spunky girl around Yami's age, and Yami's secret love, accompanied him.
"What did you do to him?" he growled, eyes narrowing to slits.
Bakura shrugged carelessly and replied, "What do you think, boy? Do I have to spell it out for your simple mind?" Yami felt a lump in his throat form when Bakura finished, with a murderous grin, "He is slain."
Yami's reason broke. He rushed forward at Bakura with a war cry and slashed at the thief with his blade, his anger blocking his judgment. Bakura blocked the clumsy strike and punched Yami into his stomach with his free hand with tremendous power, winding and sending the young man careening backwards to the ground. Yami gasped and jerked his blade up, Bakura's blade connecting with his with a loud clang a second after he hit the sands. Yami clenched his teeth and glared into Bakura's chestnut-brown orbs. Bakura laughed at the young man's efforts and applied more pressure to his blade, drawing a struggling grunt from the man below him as the blades inched closer to him.
Yami drew his legs up and kicked out hard, kicking Bakura's legs from underneath him. He rolled to one side as the larger man fell forward and he leapt to his feet, spinning around and driving his blade at Bakura. The thief saw this coming and rolled his body away from the attack but Yami's blade was too close. Bakura screamed in agony as the blade tore into the flesh underneath his right eye. Struggling to his feet, Bakura faced Yami in a wild rage, blood pouring out of the large laceration on his face, his right eye only seeing red now.
"You little bastard!" he screamed at Yami. He roared angrily and ran at the pharaoh, slashing out with his blade. Both men took turns in attack and defending, but Bakura had the upper hand and Yami was finding it increasingly difficult to ward off the thief's relentless onslaught. Both men's bodies were shining with sweat under the moonlight from the effort, blood trickling down their bodies from numerous gashes the other had made.
Yami's chest heaved as he gulped in breaths of air. He was trained in swordplay while on solid, stone ground. Although a brilliant swordfighter, he was an amateur to duelling on the sands and he had lost his footing many times. Bakura, on the other hand, was used to all surfaces and used this to his advantage.
The broader man ran at the pharaoh and took another swing but the smaller and younger of the two nimbly dodged. "Stay still you little rat," Bakura growled and swung around, grinning as his sword caught Yami's exposed back and tore a cry of pain from the pharaoh as he gouged a deep hole in the young flesh.
'Face him!' Yami's mind screamed but his movements were sluggish and Bakura had his legs kicked from under him before he could react. Yami's lean body hit the sands roughly and Bakura stepped on his back to keep him down, his heel digging painfully into the deep, fresh wound he'd just inflicted.
"Just look at you," Bakura said, laughter in his voice. "Face down in the dirt like a street rat!" He applied his full body weight down on Yami and kicked the pharaoh's blade away, laughing at the anguished cry that echoed from the pharaoh's lips.
White-hot pain coursed through Yami from his back where blood gushed out openly, staining the sands below him. His vision was dotted with white and black specks and he knew that the pain would cause him to lose consciousness soon. 'I have to get up,' was his thought but the action was far from easy to complete. "Get off of me!" he yelled and was surprised when Bakura complied, removing all weight from Yami's back. The pharaoh rolled over onto his side and pushed himself up to sit.
"Ah, ah, ah," Bakura's voice taunted, the tip of his blade pressing into Yami's neck to restrict his movements. "I'm not done with you yet." The twisted smirk on Bakura's lips and the blood covering his face gave him a terrifying appearance and sent shivers down Yami's spine but he refused to show anything, his eyes burning with fury. Yami's fear became apparent in his eyes when he noticed that the Ring had begun to glow an eerie blue in response to its holder's hate for the pharaoh.
"What? Are you scared of me?" Bakura cackled upon seeing Yami's face go hard, but his tanned skin paled considerably. "You should be," Bakura said in a husky voice. The Ring glowed brightly and the air around them dropped to a biting temperature, cold enough to almost stop the blood flowing in their veins. Bakura was bringing them to the Shadow Realm, a realm full of shadowed monsters that would forever feed on your soul if you were to be lost there.
'Why did I leave the Puzzle behind?' Yami questioned himself, not finding an answer for his stupid action. With his Puzzle he would have been able to protect himself from Bakura's dark magic, but he was helpless now, completely vulnerable.
The glow of the Ring grew and Yami could see the murderous glint in Bakura's eyes as well as the euphoria the thief was experiencing from seeing this man of such great power at his mercy. The thief removed the blade from Yami's neck and the pharaoh began to rise but was thrown back down in a painful heap with a sharp kick to the ribs. Yami groaned in agony and tried to get to his feet. Bakura pulled his leg back and struck a sharp blow to Yami's head, almost knocking the pharaoh out cold. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked cruelly, watching Yami feebly crawl away from him. Another kick to Yami's stomach sent the man tumbling down the side of a sand dune to land in a heap at the bottom, the shadows and evil souls of the Shadow Realm slowly gliding closer to the fallen man.
The Ring glowed brightly, Bakura's grin grew, and Yami's end was near. "I believe it's time to bid you a farewell." Bakura's voice was full of mockery.
Yami's eyes widened in panic as a slip of shadow wrapped around his wrist and began pulling him towards the blackest hole forming nearby. Red eyes could be seen in this dark hole and quick flashes of white fangs glinted now and again, accompanied with low growls and snarls of the inhumane monsters that lurked within.
Yami's body temperature dropped as more spirits flowed over his form and slowly sucked the life from him. "No!" he screamed, lashing out at the evil souls in vain. Bakura's laugh rang in his ears and his body went limp, too weak to protest anymore. "So this is my end," he whispered bitterly, his eyes slowly dimming as the darkness thickened. Clawed arms reached out from the shadows, groping and scratching Yami's paralysed form. "And the last thing I am to hear is his vicious laughter..."
"Pharaoh!"
Yami turned his head towards a warm glow that suddenly erupted through the cold darkness. The monster's screamed in agony and the scratching claws receded.
"Don't give up, my pharaoh!" called a voice he knew well.
"Seth?" Yami murmured just before his eyes rolled back in his head and he saw only darkness.
x-x-x-
Yami was eternally grateful to Seth for saving him that day. The High Priest had crossed Yugi moments after he had left Yami's chamber and, using the power of the Rod, uncovered what the small boy knew and was able to piece together what was on the pharaoh's mind. Seth was lucky in that Bakura's magical powers were extremely weak after calling on the Shadow Realm but the thief had escaped before Seth could take him down, but Yami was saved. The knotted scar running down Yami's back was a constant reminder of that night.
Yami had ordered a search party to be organised and the hunt for Mahaddo began, but to no avail. The mage was dead, but nothing was ever found of Mana. The young woman and Yami had been secretly courting for months and Yami had promised that as soon as she returned he was going to proclaim his love for her to the kingdom. But this never came to pass. Yami's heart was crushed and his hate for the thief grew.
'I'll never forget,' Yami thought and gripped the handles of his throne tightly until his knuckles went white. 'Bakura, I swear by the Gods that you will pay for eternity for harming those close to me!'
Yugi tapped his fingers against his knees while he listened to Bakura's steady breathing. Night had fallen hours ago but Yugi hadn't slept a wink, not when this could be his only shot for freedom. While he had been wandering around a few hours ago he had discovered an old rusty dagger hidden in the back of the cave. It looked like it had been there for years, forgotten about and covered by sand that had blown into the cave.
Yugi's hand left his knee and wandered down to the sash at the small of his back. He touched the cold hilt of the dagger hidden under the sash and bit his lip. 'Can I do this?' he though, the images of stabbing Bakura in his sleep almost making him gag. He never enjoyed the sight of blood, and death scared him to no end. 'I'd be just like him.' Violet eyes went to the sleeping man in the bed and he stared at him through the dark, debating with himself over and over again.
'Do it!' his mind screamed at him eventually. 'If you don't he'll just do it to you sooner or later.'
Nodding to himself, he took a deep breath, checked the dagger once more, moved onto his knees and pushed the cage open silently, grateful that Bakura didn't check the cage's lock before going to bed. Creeping out slowly, he took the chains from his ankles and picked them up, setting them back down carefully once he was outside the cage so as they didn't make any noise.
The air was still. There wasn't a sound to be heard save for Bakura's soft snoring. Yugi was sure that his thumping heart could be heard it was beating so hard.
Shivering from both the cold and the fear he felt, Yugi withdrew the dagger and crept slowly towards the bed. One step. Two steps. Bakura coughed and Yugi froze suddenly, eyes trained on the figure under the covers. 'Please don't wake up,' he pleaded silently, remaining motionless until he was sure that Bakura was still asleep. He stepped closer. As he approached the bedside he noticed that his whole body was shaking, the loose dagger blade rattling lightly in the hilt.
Bakura shifted.
Yugi's breath caught in his throat as Bakura rolled over onto his back. He didn't wake up, much to Yugi's relief. 'It's now or never,' he thought, pulling up the dagger above his head. He never felt the warm tears rolling down his cheeks, as he looked skyward, eyes closed. He pleaded with the Gods, 'Please forgive my soul.' He sucked in a sharp breath and plunged the dagger down towards Bakura's chest.
Yugi cried out in shock and dismay when he felt the tight grip of a large hand around his small wrist. "No," he breathed, his eyes locked with the chestnut brown pair that were staring coldly back at him. "No." Yugi's voice shook from fear as the large man slowly rose from his bed, his right wrist still in his strong grasp. "No," he pleaded again, whimpering, tears flowing freely down his cheeks.
"'No' what?" Bakura snarled, his eyes giving off an evil glow as he backed Yugi towards the wall. "You little runt." He gave Yugi's wrist a sharp twist, relishing the boy's pained scream that followed the loud snap of bone. The dagger clattered to the ground and was kicked aside. "That was some stunt you pulled," Bakura growled, picking the small boy up by his broken wrist and slamming him against the wall, a sickening crack sounding as Yugi's head connected with the stone.
Yugi's head hung limply and he groaned, his vision slowly slipping to darkness. "Oh no you don't," he heard faintly and his vision returned, even though blurred, along with every pain. "You're not going to get off that easily." Bakura was using the Millennium Ring to keep Yugi conscious. Yugi felt something warm looping around his ankles and wrists and when Bakura let him go, his body hung slumped on the wall, chains of golden energy holding him up. Raising his head slowly, he caught the faint glint of the rusty dagger as Bakura picked it up from the floor and returned to standing in front of him.
"Now, let me show you what happens to people like you," Bakura hissed and Yugi screamed in terror.
To be continued...
Well I said all I had to say at the start. Please review! Thank you!
Slán slán!
Ashla