Author's notes: I'm back! Finally. Sorry that update took forever. I just got back from my trip at the shore where there is NO form of any technology, so I couldn't work on my story for a good 2 weeks, and THEN school started. But hey I'm back now! Wooh! Read on friends, read on!
P.S. Thank you for your lovely reviews, they mean so much!
koalared (): thank you! Here it is.
fallen-angel-of-repression: wow, I hope my fic does kaiba/ joey justice. They really make a wonderful couple. I remember my first k/j fanfic, aww those were the days… Anyways, thanks for the note, I really appreciated it, but I DID put stars to show scene changes, I don't know why they didn't show up when I loaded it onto fanfiction. Sorry if there was any confusion!
RiokuAvalon: I love them too! Thank you.
Emu38: that's so sweet, thanks!
Warnings: a whole lotta Egyptianess in this chapter, and some ancient k/j taunting. If you squint, you might see something between them starting to form, but don't get your hopes up. Hey, at least there's more than the last chapter!
Disclaimer: yugioh ain't mine! Neither is aida, or jamangi, sheesh.
The Promise
Chapter two: The Egyptian
The Egyptian ship rocked gently on the Nile's edge. Small groups of young men sat on the ship's damp floor, bound together by iron chains. The newly captured Nubians desolately waited for their destination, while Egyptian soldiers flooded the deck. A sandy haired Nubian stared wide eyed at his fellow captives, and waited silently for a chance to strike. They were at war with these strangers, because of the very river they drifted on, and he refused to be captured so easily.
Without warning, a proud looking priest appeared on deck, congratulating his soldiers on their fine 'discovery' of people, and of course, their battles they had previously won. He stood covered in a red robe, suitable for captains of his rank, but around his neck, he wore a priest's ankh. His authority had been proven by the many gold medals he had acquired, along with his noticeable presence.
A soldier holding a map beckoned to the brunet man. "Captain, if we cut across the 1'st cataract, here, than we can cut days from our journey westward," he said proudly of his finding. The captain simply nodded in approval. In the midst of their unnecessary celebration, another soldier found himself backing towards the blond captive. In a spring, the blond was able to wrap the chains of his shackles around the neck of the idiot soldier. Silence fell over the party.
"Release them." the blond demanded. The panicked soldier looked around nervously at his frozen companions.
The captain was the only one to speak. Although refusing to move, he seemed as calm as ever. "Excuse me?"
"I said, release them!" he cried.
Still keeping eye contact with the daring slave, the captain motioned to two fellow soldiers. In a flash, two innocent Nubians were caught head locked with two sabers. They screamed.
The blond slave tightened his grip on the already choking soldier, another soldier drew the sword closer to one of the frightened slaves, and began to slowly draw blood. He had no choice; the blond released the gasping soldier. He was quickly taken by two Egyptians, where he was kneed in the stomach by the larger of the two. The captain moved closer, he continued his icy smirk towards the slave. The winded blond glared back, his eyes like fire, blazing, challenging him. The Egyptian paused, "Tell me your name." he said.
Silence.
A glare arose from the Egyptian's face. "Answer me when I'm speaking to you! You worthless dog!"
Still nothing. The Egyptian thought for a moment, astonished. He seemed to be playing a game of mental handball, deciding if this slave was worth degrading himself over. He supposed not, but he was too side tracked by the slave's disrespect to think clearly.
"Please, tell me your name?"
"Jibade," he said lightly, unafraid.
The quiet was deafening.
"What shall we do now sir?" one soldier holding the slave asked.
"Load the rest of the prisoners below deck. I have my own plans for Jibade," He said, grabbing the slave at his shoulders, still smirking. The crew laughed at their captain's crudeness.
The Egyptian dragged his captive far below the surface of the ship's deck. Small holes located in the ceiling provided the couple with minimal light. When the captain was satisfied with their new surroundings, he made his way toward Jibade, grabbing at the blond's bindings. He flinched backwards.
"Do you not want me to remove your shackles?" the Egyptian asked. The Nubian let him finish his work, brushing over the arms of the other, hands fondling, he worked quickly. "Besides, they will only get in the way," he said darkly. Jibade felt his stomach drop. The captain moved closer, removing his scarlet robe, retiring it to the floor. "You," he paused, "are going to wash the dirt of battle from my skin," he said, as he retrieved a bucket and sponge. Disgusted, but relieved, Jibade took the sponge and began his work, as violently as he could.
"What is your name?" the blond asked.
He paused a moment, astonished by the slave's outspokenness, "Seto."
Jibade simply 'hmphed' and kept working, splashes of pink began to stain the Egyptian's naked back.
"You certainly are better with a weapon than you are with a sponge," the brunet complained. "Who taught you how to fight?" he asked.
"My father."
"Because he knows that the Nubian army cannot defend its country?" Jibade immediately ceased. "I did not tell you to stop," he said. "You are not finished."
"Yes I am." The captive responded.
The captain angrily stood. "You have no grounds to tell me when you are and are not finished! You are a slave! A pathetic, worthless – "
"You know nothing about me!" the blond cried, throwing down his sponge, and quickly pointing a strong finger at the brunet. "And care even less! How could you understand our emptiness? You've plundered our wisdom, our knowledge, our wealth!" Jibade seemed to let down his guard, he stared sadly ahead, "In bleeding us dry, you long for our spirit." He snapped back into reality, fire once again blazing in his eyes, glaring back towards the stunned brunet, "But that you will never possess."
The Egyptian stood silent for a moment. He again grabbed at the slave's hands, retrieving his cuffs from before. "Please no." the Nubian pleaded.
The captain refused to look in his eyes, he continued to stare at the rusting shackles. The rocking of the ship slowly began to moderate, signaling they had reached shore. "You are a slave now. If you wish to stay alive, I suggest you start acting like one," he said softly. Jibade was left alone, ready to be taken ashore. For the first time, he realized what he had gotten himself into. "Father, I'm so sorry." He looked downward toward the watery planks. "I've let you down. I've let you all down."
"Son!" A wider, leather skinned Egyptian appeared in front of the docking ship. He wore a deep black tunic, and pinned to the side near his heart was the eye of Horus. Pinned underneath, he wore the same ankh that the captain, who he was approaching, wore around his neck. "You have returned from battle!" Though he spoke with warm words, he embraced his son awkwardly. The captain didn't diverge, he hugged his father as clumsily as he had received it.
The newly captured slaves made their way clumsily off the ship. Bound together in a tight row, they grimly staggered to their destinations. "Ahh!" Seto's father announced, pleased with the turnout of new workers. "Send them to the coppermines," he said darkly, knowing their fate. The guard obeyed, leading the group off the ship. Seto noticed a blond head appearing out from the massive line. He and Jibade locked eyes.
"No!" Seto cried out. Everyone looked at him quizzically, but he quickly regained composure, and stared at his audience with complete calm, "They are just young men," logic was evident in his voice, as if anyone would question him, "they wouldn't last a day down in the coppermines."
"I suppose you're right." The priest continued to look at his son oddly, "their your slaves, do what you want with them."
"Send them to the, uhh, wheat fields," he said. Looking up and down the line, his eyes again found Jibade's. "Except for this one," he paused, "send him to the prince, as a gift from his cousin." With that Seto strode away, but not without catching one more glimpse of the blond's stunned face.
Joey awoke suddenly, no differently than he the night before, or week before that. His skin was hot and moist and felt sticky beneath his covers. Groaning, he turned over enough to reach his notebook and pencil. After turning on his bedside lamp, he began to sketch feverishly, almost excitedly. He wrote everything down, what was said and how. He began to sketch the boat, the soldiers, the slaves. He took great note on the captain and what he wore, making sure the details were just right. Finally, the blond lay back down content, putting his arms behind his head, and resting, he felt, for the first time in weeks.
Joey waited for his short friend by their usual meeting place outside at lunch. Seeing the ancient pharaoh was comforting in a way, like a long lost friend"Yami!" he cried, hugging the shorter friend. The Egyptian teen looked around cautiously, to make sure no one saw their small sign of affection.
"Nice to see you too Joey," he said. "Did you bring your notebook?"
"Sure did!" Joey was bubbling. "Lemme tell ya, last night was weird."
"Weird how?" Yami questioned.
"Kay, so, as you will read in the book, I've had pieces of this dream before, but it's never made sense 'til last night. It's like the dreams are goin in order now. Cool huh?"
"That is very interesting. If your dreams continue from last nights, well then, your mind is trying to reconnect to those memories."
"Oo sounds fancy."
"I suppose it is."
Joey started to back away, "So I'll let you read, and I'll head over n talk to the gang."
He began to walk away, as a new idea struck, "My name was Jibralter!" he called out. Yami snickered. "Wait, I mean Jamangi. No, it was somethin like that, what was it…? Jimake, Jidubie, Ji, Ji…"
"Jibade, slow down before you hurt yourself!" Yami said proudly. Joey beamed.
"You remembered!"
"Of course I did." Yami said.
Joey restarted his backwards decent, he did not get far. "Oh! And it looks like me nd Kaiba were enemies back a bigillion years ago too! Those other dreams with him and me must have just been made up nd crazy, cause in this dream, we definitely weren't friends. Everything was like it is now, and I'm okay keepin it that way…" he said proudly, covering up the hint of sadness in his voice. "Okay, so you read the book now!"
"Alright Joey."
"And I'll be back to here from ya kay?"
"Yes."
"So you are all set on - "
"YES JOEY!"
He started to walk away. "Hey Yami, one more thing. How come I have this freaky name, but Seto, I uh, mean Kaiba, is still Seto?"
Laughing, Yami rolled his eyes.
TBC
Author's notes: To keep it true to Aida, Joey will be noted as a Nubian slave. I don't want to insult anyone, but the only problem with that is that Nubians are traditionally dark skinned, and Joey, well, isn't. So please use your imaginations and ignore the fact that MY Nubians will not be African American, ONLY because Joey is not. Another thing, Jibade is pronounced "Jee 'bahd ee" emphises on 'bahd.' It is a real Egyptian name, and it means 'related to royalty.' (keep that in mind while you're reading, it's important to the story) teheh