Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter up. (I've been having computer issues but now everything is sorted)

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Chapter 5

It was late afternoon and after searching all day for food the gang hadn't been rewarded with more than a few berries that Bakura was certain they would be safe to eat. Joey had volunteered to be the taste tester for the things that they were unsure about but had been stopped by other members of the group who decided that the possible harm it could do to him, if they turned out to be poisonous, was too great. It had also become cloudy and started to drizzle slightly as they all rest under the thick canopy of a small clustering of trees. Tired and hungry they talked quietly amongst themselves with some of them beginning to doubt whether or not it had been such a good idea to leave the city.

"I wonder what they're doing back there." Mokuba said as he sat next to Joey and Tristan. He had kept as far away from his brother as was possible throughout the day with neither one of them speaking or making eye contact with each other.

Bakura stood a short distance away from the three who sat on the ground. He gazed out across the land which they had crossed and sighed. "At lest they'll all be warm and dry."

"And fed." Added Joey who clutched at his rumbling stomach. "We can't go on like this."

Tristan turned around and shouted to Yami who stood with Yugi next to the trunk of a large tree. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"It won't be much longer." Yami assured him even though he didn't have an answer for his friend.

"How much longer?" Tristan asked sceptically.

"Maybe we never should of left." Joey said what he was thinking.

"Suppose Yugi did get it all wrong." Bakura also said what was on his mind.

"Maybe we should go back and find out." Mokuba joined the conversation.

"Go back!" Yami exclaimed in disbelief at what he was hearing. "After everything we've been through?" He quickly glanced at Yugi who seemed to cower away with each comment that was said.

"And have to face the consequences for what happened to Duke, Pegasus' favourite lapdog!" Kaiba butted in after overhearing the conversation as voices began to rise. He glared at his little brother "Talk sense for crying out loud!"

"We must go on until we reach a place that isn't roamed by monsters." Yugi said as he began to shiver. "Those who go back there will not be safe."

Yami began to make his way to Yugi who was now out in the open getting wet in the rain as he turned around terrified and almost panicking, but he found his way blocked by Tristan who confronted him. "I don't believe you know where you're going!"

Both Yami and Tristan were surprised to see Kaiba as he placed himself between the two of them and spoke rather threateningly to Tristan. "Now listen here you chimp, you…"

"Hey guys!" Bakura shouted interrupting the argument that was about to break out. He had spotted a stranger approaching them.

"It looks like you've come along way to be here." said the stranger who had long pink hair that trailed down his back.

"Do you live around here?" Yami asked noticing that the stranger seemed well groomed and in better health than others who they had seen since the day that the monsters were freed. He watched as the stranger nodded and then continued; "We're travelling and need to rest for a while."

"Of course." the stranger laughed. "We thought that you would, but I don't think that there are enough of you to be comfortable." He seemed to struggle to find the right words for putting his thoughts across.

"There are enough of us to protect ourselves!" Kaiba shot back to the remark as he approached the stranger. "Who are you and what do you want?" He circled round the long pink haired man.

"My name is Siegfried and I don't want anything." he replied. "But since you are travelling and my village isn't far away from here I thought that you may like to rest there. There's plenty of room for you all, and we're about to hold our daily banquet at the village hall if you'd like to join us." He watched as he saw some of their eyes light up at the mention of the banquet and turned to leave. "Now please do excuse me as I hate the rain." he said as he pushed passed Kaiba and returned to his village.

"Well that was kind of him." Bakura told the others what he thought about Siegfried's invitation.

"We shouldn't have anything to do with him or his village." said Yugi as he re-entered the shelter from the rain.

Tristan broke the silence that had fallen upon them as they all thought to themselves. "I was always told not to turn hospitality away." he said as he edged closer to the direction that Siegfried had gone.

"What will he think of us if we don't go?" Mokuba wondered.

"He'll probably think we're afraid." Joey said as he joined Tristan who continued to walk in the village's direction.

"Who's afraid!" said Kaiba as he too was tempted by the offer of a warm, dry place to eat and sleep.

Mokuba got up from where he sat and raced over to join Joey and Tristan as they were almost out of sight.

"He seems friendly enough." Bakura said to Yami and Kaiba before he pondered to himself as he walked off to head for the village.

Kaiba turned to Yami and Yugi. "We can stand around here like fools." he told them waiting for their reaction to the situation, but when neither one of them moved he decided to follow the others after all.

Yami watched until Kaiba was out of sight. He wondered if they was more to Siegfried's kind gesture which somehow Yugi seemed to have sensed. He sighed, what could possibly be wrong with taking advantage of food and shelter from the stranger? He glanced at Yugi and hoped that his friend would follow as he slowly moved away in the same direction as his friends before him.

"I know that they think I'm mad, but you know that I'm not, and you still won't listen to me!" he told Yami who didn't return to him.

"Come on Yugi." Yami shouted back. "It will be okay." He increased his speed to try and catch up with the others.

Yugi stay stood under the trees and wrapped his arms around himself. He felt cold and all alone after being abandoned by his friends. Still feeling tired and hungry, he slumped against the tree trunk and slide down to the ground. Rain water dripped from his fringe and ran down his face where it mixed with his own tears as he cried.

After a couple of minutes of being on his own he got up back on to his feet and set off to be reunited with those that he cared for, but who had left him. He still felt that it was a bad idea to go to the village but he wasn't about to abandon his friends, no matter what they thought, or the fact they had just abandoned him.

If something terrible was about to happen then he wanted to be around his friends. He had lost so much already and didn't want to be alone as he know that he wouldn't be able to cope by himself. He wanted to be with his friends, even if that meant that they all died together.