Yami Bakura groaned as he found himself surrounded by white light. He tried to open his eyes, but the brightness surrounded him. His sensitive eyes, so used to navigating through the darkness of tombs and crypts, couldn't stand it.
He tried to move, only to hear the sound of metal clamoring against itself. He was still in the white armor, helmet and all.
"What the…" he muttered to himself, trying to figure out where he was.
The ground beneath him was soft, but not squishy. There weren't any black spores, tar, or ooze. The last thing he could remember was a black tentacle covering his face, the pain finally reaching his ultimate threshold before he passed out.
"Am I…dead?" he finally asked. His voice scratched against his throat. "Is this… the… the chamber of Osiris?"
He slowly managed to pull himself into a seated position. He tried to look around.
Then suddenly it hit him.
This place was familiar, and he had been here before.
"Ryou…" he gasped. This was his host's soul room. At least, it appeared that way. But it had changed since the last time he was there.
He rose to his feet, desperately looking for Ryou. He knew the boy wasn't conscious, not after the curse had taken such a toll on him. He had to be there, somewhere.
Yami Bakura breathed a sigh of relief when he finally saw his host. The boy was clothed in a thin white gown. His frail body rested uncomfortably on a circular white bed, surrounded by flattened pillows. It was truly a frightening sight to behold.
Ryou's body was an emaciated shell, his arms and legs hanging limply from a withered torso. His eyes were glazed over, unfocused, and half hidden under white bangs that were literally dripping with sweat.
"Oh Ra…" the spirit of the ring gasped, and ran over to his host, ignoring the pain that still rolled under his skin.
The boy didn't move.
"Ryou?" Yami Bakura knelt over the unconscious soul, touching his host gently. Even through the gloves, he was surprised how cold the boy felt. Was he… "Ryou?"
The spirit of the millennium ring climbed up onto the white bed, and lifted the boy into his arms. He was so light, so fragile. Yami Bakura worried that lifting him up might simply cause him to snap in half. He cradled Ryou's body in his arms for a moment.
"Ryou, no… please don't be dead." He started mumbling to himself. "If you're dead, I'm dead… Wake up! Damn you, we went through all that for nothing? Ra, make him wake up!"
He shook Ryou a little.
"Ra, if you die right now, I swear, I'm going to kill you!" he shouted in desperation, watching as the boy in his arms started to flinch a little. He looked down. "Ryou?"
His host quivered, but still remained otherwise unresponsive.
"Ryou? Please, no… I'm not going to kill you… I… I just risked everything to save you."
He breathed a sigh of utter hopelessness.
"Why don't you answer me?"
'tired…' a weak voice finally came across his mental link. 'So very tired…'
'Ryou?' Yami Bakura held him tighter against the white armor. Not really thinking, he answered back through the mental link as well. 'Ryou, please. You can't sleep now. Do you hear me? You can't sleep right now.'
He looked down at the boy. The response made logical sense. How could he be anything but tired? The disease might have been gone, but his body was a scorched battlefield inside. And he was quickly becoming its biggest casualty.
'Rest… Too tired…' he repeated through the link. It was very faint. 'Please… yami… please…'
He found himself nodding, although he didn't want to...
"All right, Ryou… You can rest." Yami Bakura whispered. It too, was faint.
He laid the boy down carefully on the bed, and supported his weary head with one of the many white pillows. He brushed Ryou's hair away from his eyes, and closed them gently.
He climbed off the bed, and took the white helmet off his head. Until just then, he forgot he was still wearing it. He placed it carefully by Ryou, and knelt down.
"You… You can rest all you want now…" He sighed softly, and rubbed Ryou's chest tenderly. "You can rest all you want…"
He stood up again, and in an instant, he was gone.