A/N - Wow thank you everyone who reviewed; keep it up! Thank you always to Dukie for editing this and now onto some important info:

Yahoo deleted the group Kokoro no Yami, which was a hanging place for yaoi fans who were sick of the SetoxJou pairing run by Dragon, Pysche, Puppy and myself. Therefore KnY was moved to a new place. The link to the new place can be found in my bio (click on my name).

Also those of you who are familiar with 'shipping' names for the pairings know that SetoxJou is called 'Puppyshipping', while the other day Dragon and I were talking and decided that Puppyshipping made no sense for that pairing. Seto always called Jou Dog or Mutt, never Puppy. Also Seto would never enter a master/puppy relationship with Jou. We did however agree that Otogi and Jou would make more sense to call 'Puppyshipping', as Otogi is more obessed with the puppy stuff then Seto ever was (remember it was Otogi who demanded Jou to dress in a puppy suit and be his slave for a week). Therefore 'Puppyshipping' now referes to OtogixJou while Muttshipping is SetoxJou. Please spread this news around as much as possible to YGO places.

"Where did you go?"

Yami paused, his body only halfway out of the hole. Standing directly in front of him was Seto, fully dressed and ready to go with his arms crossed in front of his chest. With a small gulp, Yami squeezed out from the hole and transformed into a human.

"I heard noises next door and decided to investigate."

"And…?"

"And nothing." Yami eyed his human partner and tried giving him a look of innocence. "It was just Bakura and some slut he found. I tried interrogating him but he ran off."

Seto cocked an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"Yes! What's with you today?" Although Yami knew the answer to that question he wanted to hear it from Seto.

"Nothing," the demon hunter replied as he turned his head and looked away. "Let's just go and complete our sweep of the area. Bakura may be gone but that other demon could be still in the area."

Yami sighed and silently nodded his head. Turning into a cat he made the movement to jump upon Seto's shoulders but the demon hunter was already swiftly strolling towards the door, not waiting for the cat demon.

Yami padded after the brunet, trying to keep up on his short legs. He knew what was wrong with the hunter but didn't know how to correct it.

Seto was at the stairs now, heading down to the ground level. Yami was about to follow him when he felt hands around his body as a person picked him up.

At first Yami feared it was one of those kids again and squirmed as hard he could, wanting to get away. Then…he recognized the scent of the person who had picked up him. Being flipped around, Yami found himself looking up into the familiar face of a bronze skinned blond who had lavender eyes.

"It is you!" Malik squealed, hugging Yami tightly. "I heard someone storming past my room and decided to investigate. I thought I saw the back of Seto's head but wasn't sure."

Malik backed up until he was once again in his room and slammed the door shut. Jumping down from Malik's arms, Yami quickly transformed. "Malik!"

"I know, I know," Malik replied, waving Yami off. "You're working but I only wanted to say 'hi'."

"Malik, it's okay," Yami quickly replied. Malik was one of the few friends he had anymore. "What are you doing here?"

"Kura," Malik simply said as he flopped down onto the bed and rolled his eyes. "He disappeared on me…again. He insists on finding a mate even though he's too much of a blockhead to realize the only one dumb enough to be with him is me."

Yami frowned and sat next to his somewhat friend. "Why do you put up with him? He treats you like dirt."

"Love is a funny thing," Malik replied with a bitter laugh. "I first started out to give him heck for running off on me without a goodbye but somewhere along the way I fell in love with the idiot when I wasn't looking. Now I'm stuck." Malik looked down at his hands and began playing with a gold ring on his finger. "I told him I was breaking up with him, trying to give him the space he needed and hoping he'd realize he needs me. Unfortunately he saw that as an opportunity to run off to find a mate."

"He's gone you know," Yami quietly told him. "I ended up scaring him off a few minutes ago."

"The quest continues," Malik replied with a small sigh before a renewed look of determination crossed his face. "I don't care though. I'm going to search this entire world until I find him and then I'm dragging his ass back to Chale Jao so he can mate with me whether he likes it or not!"

"Good for you Malik. Before you leave here you should find someone here by the name of Otogi. Bakura took a fancy to him before I scared him off."

"Otogi, huh?"

"Yeah, he has black hair and green eyes."

Malik smiled at him. "Thanks Yami. I think I'll visit him and make him understand that no one touches my man!"

Yami laughed. "No problem."

"What about you? Is Seto ready for the ceremony?"

Yami hung his head briefly while he forced a smile before looking back at the blond. "Can't wait!"

"How can he not be thrilled?" Malik questioned. "It's obvious he loves you."

"I haven't exactly told him yet," Yami admitted. "Kura pretty much spilled it this afternoon and Seto's been moody since. He's going to flip when I come clean."

"Hit him on the head with a wooden log and make him."

Yami grinned. "Like you?"

"Exactly!" Malik smiled brightly at the cat demon before growing serious again. "You need be honest with him. He may surprise you."

"I hope so Malik, I hope so."

Seto's piercing eyes scanned the dark woods around the village, wishing he had Yami with him. He had, however, allowed his anger to get the best of him and had stormed off before Yami could catch up to him.

His bow was cocked with an arrow, ready to fire, but he took little comfort from it, knowing a demon could attack him from anywhere in the dark. 'Yami!' He frantically called out in his mind. Thus far their mind link only worked when Yami was trying to talk to him but he was hoping for a miracle.

The crack of a branch caught Seto's attention and he swung around to where the sound had come from. "Yami?" he questioned, peering out into the blackness. Instead of Yami's comforting meows a deep chuckling came as the reply.

"How did you like my pets Master Hunter?" a voice softly asked, both respectful and insulting at the same time. Frantically Seto looked around for the owner of the voice. "My gift is rare among my kind. Most demons deal with the elements or morph like your partner."

"You're boring me," Seto finally snarled back. "Why don't you come out and face me like a man?"

The owner of the voice chuckled again. "Why not Master Hunter; you're hardly anything without your demon partner."

From the shadows crept a man with a purple cloak wrapped around his shoulders. His arms were bare, and Seto could easily see under the dim moonlight that they were muscular and bronze. His hair was blond and spiky, his eyes a dark shade of lavender. If Seto hadn't known better he would have thought the demon in front of him was related to Malik.

"So you're Marik, huh? You don't look like anything special."

Marik glared evilly at Seto but refused to answer him. "I wonder what your power will be," he quietly stated, changing the subject.

Seto tried deciphering what Marik had said but couldn't figure it out. He was losing focus however, letting Marik get to him. The demon, although not terribly powerful, knew how to get under his skin; Seto mentally cursed himself, wishing he had waited for Yami.

The demon was speaking again, drawing Seto back to reality. "Often the Mate takes on powers similar to the demon who gave him the power but that doesn't necessary happen all the time; look at Pegasus and Cynthia; she had elemental powers while he could morph, yet they were mated."

Seto narrowed his blue eyes at the demon. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh haven't you heard?" the demon mocked. Marik was about to say something more when he suddenly cocked his head, listening to something in the distance. "The kitty arrives."

Seto sharply turned his head giving Marik the moment he needed to slink back into the darkness. "Hey come back here!" Although Seto couldn't see Marik, he could hear him as the demon ran through forest.

Marik's footsteps suddenly stopped so Seto came to a halt, spinning around in a slow circle wondering where the demon could have gone. His sword was out and ready to strike, while around him in the dark the demon's sickening laugh echoed throughout the tall trees.

Yami sniffed the ground; he knew Seto had been there recently and was currently trying to find his partner. After leaving Malik, Yami had headed out into the forest in hopes he could find the demon hunter. He had an intense feeling of dread that Seto was in trouble.

Yami's leopard tail twitched as he trotted down the path. With his eyes he could easily see in the dark but knew enough not to run as he needed to conserve his energy; leopards didn't have the best abilities of maintaining a fast speed over long stretch of ground.

Catching Seto's scent again, Yami quickly weaved through the maze of trees. His ears jolted around as he thought he heard voices but quickly dismissed it as howling of the wind.

'Seto?' He tried silently calling out despite knowing that the demon hunter had no way of replying. Still though, he hoped if Seto could hear him it would bring reassurance that he was nearby and was searching for the brunet.

Sick laughter rang throughout the forest and Yami quickened his pace. Through the dense brush he finally saw the clearing with Seto standing in the middle of it, looking at something in front of him.

Crawling now, with his body close to the ground, Yami inched forward, unseen to everything around him. Finally he saw what Seto was staring at…the demon that they had been hunting.

"I think we lost your partner." One of Marik's demonic owls was seated on his shoulder and then flew off, not noticing the black figure of Yami's body crouched on the grown and not moving.

"Showing fear is a weakness," Seto coldly replied. Cautiously lifting his head slightly, Yami took a sniff of the area before determining that it was safe to move onward. As he passed Seto's prone body, Yami didn't dare try to warn him he was near; he couldn't risk Seto giving away that he was there; he knew that they would have to catch Marik by surprise for he had too many spies in the forest, animals he turned demonic.

"It's not fear, it's intelligence," Marik argued. "Other demons have tried taking both of you on and they had nothing but failure. Even demons like Pegasus couldn't defeat both of you together. Two on one is hardly a fair fight."

"Says the demon who's up to no good."

Yami was almost close to Marik now. Seto was doing a good job of keeping the demon distracted, but it wasn't enough; Malik would notice him if he got much closer.

A screeching cry rang throughout the forest as one of Marik's animals met a painful end. Smoke rose up into the sky, followed by the muffled muttering of Bakura complaining about all the vermin running around.

Marik snapped his head sideways, which gave Yami the opportunity he was looking for. Leaping forward the cat demon landed squarely on Marik's body, knocking him to the ground. His sharp teeth sunk into Marik's shoulder.

Growling in frustration, Marik attempted to throw Yami off of him but Seto had already begun to run forward. A swift kick to Marik's head made him drop unconscious and Yami released his hold.

"When did you get here?" Seto questioned as he pulled up the heavy body and threw one of Marik's arms around his shoulders.

"Not long," Yami replied, now in his human form. Walking over to the other side of Marik's body and mimicked Seto's move to help carry some of the weight. "Thanks for distracting him."

"You could have told me you were there."

"I didn't dare," Yami explained with a small shake of his head. "Those critters of Marik's would easily see me if I made very much movement."

"What will happen to them? We're not going to have to rid the entire forest of them are we?"

"They should be back to normal soon now without Marik influencing them." The pair continued to drag Marik's body through the dark forest. "There's a demon outpost near here where we can take Marik. Other demons can handle him from there."

Under the advice of Yami, the demon community had set up various outposts throughout the world where troubled demons could go for help if they got into trouble while wandering the land. These outposts also had jail cells in them where dangerous demons caught by Seto and Yami could be put while they waited for punishment given down by the Ruling Council of the community they were from.

The moon shone through the foliage, lighting the path for the two partners. It didn't take them long to reach the outpost and fortunately Marik didn't start coming around until after they had already dragged him inside. The demon in charge of the outpost thanked them and assured that the demon would be taken care of. Safe in his cell, Marik glared at them both as the hunter and cat demon left the outpost.

"We should talk," Yami softly said as they walked back to the village. "There are some things you should know, which I haven't been honest about."

"Hn."

"Every 500 years a demon is allowed to seek out a human as a mate," Yami explained. "During a ceremony in the demon's home village, the pair is bonded together where the human becomes a demon and normally gains a power similar to their mate. It is said that a newly turned demon could be more powerful than one who was born a demon but that has yet to happen. Depending on the might of the original demon, the new demon can be either weak or powerful. The pair will be bonded forever, drawing strength from each other."

"Why are you telling me this?" Seto cautiously asked, shooting a quick look at the cat demon as they continued to walk down the black path. "It has nothing to do with me…or does it?"

"Seto…"

Seto stopped and shoved Yami's shoulder forcing him to swing around so they were facing each other. "Shouldn't you be out looking for a mate? Or is it like Bakura said and you think you've already found one?"

"Seto don't act this way," Yami begged. "I'm your friend!"

"And don't get any ideas that we'll ever be something more!"

Yami felt like shuddering under the glare the brunet was giving him; a look that was normally reserved for the demons they were hunting. But he refused to back down. "Friend," he repeated. "That means you trust me…remember?"

"You've seduced me from day one!" Seto argued shoving him again. "You're the one who told me you saw me in that vision you had at the stupid pool!"

"Seto…you had no complaints when you were thrusting in and out of me…"

The comment however only made Seto angrier, which was not what Yami wanted. "Let's get one thing straight…you mean nothing to me."

"Seto, you're mad. You don't honestly believe that."

"The only reason I kept you around was because I thought I owed you one for saving my life. That debt has long been repaid."

"Seto…"

"Why do all your idiotic demon friends think you want me to be your mate then?" Seto growled as he leaned close to Yami's face; his eyes were filled with fire. "What were you going to do? Drag me to whatever ceremony takes place and force me to go through with it?"

Yami's heart broke. "Seto, I would never do something like that!"

"Nothing would surprise me anymore when it comes to you!"

"Seto stop acting like this!" Yami yelled, finally raising his voice. He had tried keeping his cool while they talked but he now knew he needed to knock some sense into his partner. "You're listening to enemies! Not me! The one who you should be trusting!"

"You're the one who's always so buddy-buddy with Bakura," Seto coldly replied as he turned around so that his back was facing the cat demon.

"My loyalties lie with you, not Bakura."

Yami stared at Seto's back, hoping his words finally got through to the demon hunter. He needed Seto in his life, needed the brunet to understand. Finally after a long moment of quietness, Seto finally began speaking again.

"We need to end this here." Seto turned his head to look at Yami with a hurt expression on his face. "I can no longer trust you. I now know I shouldn't have trusted you all along."

"Seto…"

"You broke my trust. You could have told me a while ago about this, before I had to hear it from both Bakura and Marik. I don't give out trust easily but I gave it to you because I thought you were different."

"Seto…"

"Don't try and follow me Atemu."

Yami's heart felt like it had been ripped out of his chest when Seto called him by his real name; the demon hunter had always called him 'Yami'. Sadly he watched as Seto walked away and disappeared into the night. A single tear fell down Yami's cheek when he realized he was all alone and that Seto was not coming back.