Chapter 6

Yugi had managed to catch up with Yami before he entered the village and together they joined up with the others as they waited outside the village hall. Joey was jumping around with his hands across his stomach complaining about why they were delaying the chance to vanquish their hunger and get themselves dry.

"Because if we let you loose on the food then there'd be none left for anybody else." Tristan told his best friend.

Kaiba watched as Yami and Yugi appeared amongst the others. "Now, let's enter." He said to everyone.

"Who made you leader!" Joey exclaimed. His stomach rumbled and he lost the will to argue. "Oh forget it. I gotta eat." He pushed open the village hall doors and entered with the others following on behind.

Inside the village hall was a huge table that spanned all the way down one side of the room. Some of the villagers turned to watch as the strangers entered and one of them began to stuff his face.

Siegfried pushed his way forward and greeted the group. "I'm so glad that you've come." He gestured them towards the table. "Please yourself to as much as you like. There's always more than enough to go around."

"Thank you." Yami took it upon himself to speak for everyone as they all started to help themselves to food before Joey ate it all.

"This is yummy!" Mokuba said with a full mouth of cake. It had been so long since he had last had cake. So long that he had piled up most of his plate with it.

"I must say that this is a rather impressive buffet." Bakura commented. "Most of these foods we no longer have in the city since the monsters broke free."

"Nor would we if it wasn't for their generosity." Siegfried replied with a smile.

"Whose?" Asked Yami suspiciously.

"A lot of the houses are empty." Siegfried carried on talking, ignoring Yami's question. "So feel free to stay and rest as long as you like." And before anyone could say another word, he disappeared back into the small crowd of villagers.

"Where are they all?" Yugi asked Yami about the lack of villagers. He really didn't feel comfortable being there.

"It doesn't seem that Siegfried wants to talk about his village much." Yami said. "Maybe they've suffered with loses like those in the city." He looked down at Yugi after realizing what he said. "I didn't mean to bring that back up."

"It's okay." Yugi sniffed as he thought about what had happened to his mother and grandfather.

"What are you moping about now?" Kaiba sighed as he noticed Yugi with his head hanging down.

"Nothing." Yugi wiped his arm across his face before looking up again. Everybody was now staring at him. He forced a smile on to his face which was only short lived. "Which duel monsters do you think left the food for them?"

"Who cares!" said Joey still stuffing his face. "It's not poisoned!"

"There are good duel monsters out there too." Yami told Yugi who still wasn't convinced that the village, along with its food, was safe. "And didn't you say yourself that you thought that our monsters were looking over us?"

"That's different." Mumbled Yugi. "But this place feels wrong. Like there's a mist that's deceiving us." He became lost in his own thoughts and jumped when Siegfried reappeared beside them.

"Some of us." He referred to the villagers. "are suggesting a gathering and telling stories. I just wondered if you'd be interested in participating?"

"Of course." Yami was being polite to his host.

"As long as Joey doesn't tell his knock-knock jokes." Tristan added.

"What's wrong with my jokes?" Joey raised a fist which still held a half eaten chicken leg.

"Jokes mean nothing to us." Siegfried pointed out. "We have more of a sophisticated taste."

"Great." Joey whispered to Bakura who was closest to him. "A villager full of Kaibas."

Bakura tried hard not to laugh at Joey's way of calling the villagers boring but couldn't help himself. Luckily he managed to make his laugh sound like a cough.

"What's so funny?" asked Tristan as he watched as Bakura seemed to be choking on his food.

"My latest knock-knock joke." Joey told him. "But you don't wanna hear them, so you won't."

"Guys, quiet down now please." Yami turned and told his friends. He headed over to the area where Siegfried was about to start his recital. Everyone but Yugi followed.

Siegfried waited until he had everyone's attention before he started;
"Oh Mensch! Gieb Acht!
Was spricht die tiefe Mitternacht?"

"My jokes are way better than this." Joey complained. "I can't even understand a word he's saying!"

"That's because it's German philosophy." Kaiba hissed. "Which is too intellectual for you."

"Stop it you two!" Yami warned the pair of them quietly as Siegfried continued.

As Siegfried was about to finish there was a loud bang as the village hall doors had been opened and slammed. Yami looked around for Yugi but couldn't see him.

"Yugi!" Kaiba muttered under his breath in annoyance.

"Stay here." Yami said to the others. "I'll go get him." He got up and quickly followed out the door that Yugi had slammed behind him.

Outside Yami saw his friend disappear through the streets at a fast pace. He followed and soon they both exited the village and were back where they had first been approached by Siegfried.

"Yugi?" Yami approached his friend who was now resting under the large tree. "What are you doing out here?"

"I had to get away from that place." Yugi looked up at Yami who was standing over him. "It's not safe there. The rest of you don't seem to care anymore so I'll continue this journey on my own."

"You can't do that." Yami was surprised to hear Yugi say such a thing. "You wouldn't last long on your own, you'll die."

Yugi let out a huge sigh and looked down. He couldn't believe that his best friend had no faith in him anymore. "You're closer to death than what I am." he mumbled.

There was a rustle from the thick foliage nearby them and out emerged Kaiba looking angry. "Everything has to revolve around you doesn't it!" He went straight towards Yugi and lowered himself down to the ground so that his face was level with the smaller boy's. "It's always me, me, me."

Yugi sat horrified as a pair of angry blue eyes burned right through him. "What? No. Kaiba?" He struggled to find his tongue. "Back at the school when we were leaving you said…"

"I know what I said." Kaiba grabbed Yugi by his collar. "But right now I've had it with you."

"That's enough!" Yami shouted as he watched Yugi wince in Kaiba's grasp.

Slowly Kaiba released his grip and stood up. "This village would be the perfect place to settle, and I'm not going to leave just because you have a funny feeling in your toes."

"But…" Yugi cried weakly only to have Kaiba swear back at him before he turned and forced his way back into the bushes to head back to the village.

Yami looked sadly at Yugi and lowered his hand. "Please just let the others rest and give Kaiba time to calm down, then we'll all…" he didn't get chance to finish his sentence as a yelp came from Kaiba's direction.

Together they rushed to where the sound had come from and found Kaiba hanging from a tree. His legs kicked about in the air as he struggled with his hands to keep the rope from tightening around his throat.

"Oh no!" Yami gasped upon seeing Kaiba. He turned to Yugi whose eyes were wide with fear. "Run back to the village and get help, quickly!"

Yugi didn't argue as he watched Yami tried to position himself so that Kaiba could stand on his shoulders before he raced back to the village.

"Everything's going to be okay." Yami told Kaiba who kick him several times. He tried once again to push the swinging feet upwards so that the rope would slacken and allow Kaiba to breath. "Yugi won't be long before bringing the others to help get you down from there." Amongst the choking Yami thought he heard Kaiba say a rather sarcastic: Great.

It had only been minutes, but to Yami if felt like hours and he was sure that Kaiba felt the same way, before he caught sight of Joey and Tristan. Kaiba's flailing had become less and Yami had managed to push him slightly upwards, but it still wasn't enough. "Get him down quickly, before it's too late!"

Neither of them said a word as they both began to climb the tree.

"Oh, bloody hell!" was Bakura's reaction to seeing the strung body of Seto Kaiba. He raced to help Yami force Kaiba upwards.

"Seto!" Mokuba screamed as he and Yugi were the last two to join the group. "Get him down." He cried upwards to Joey and Tristan as they tried to untie the rope.

"Calm him down." Yami ordered Yugi as Mokuba continued to sob next to him.

Yugi pulled Mokuba back. "Please don't die." The young boy chanted as he fell to the ground.

"Where's Siegfried?" Yami asked struggling to hold Kaiba's weight. "I thought he would have come to help us."

"Well he's not." Yugi said. "He told me that death is a part of life, that we should just forget about Kaiba and that this was the price that they have to pay."

"He said what!" Yami was shocked to hear Siegfried's response.

Snap! The tree branch broke under the pressure of three body weights as Joey and Tristan, unable to untie the rope, swung from it instead. They both landed on each other whilst Bakura and Yami struggled to lay Kaiba on the ground.

Mokuba scurried forward to his brother's body that lay motionless in the dirt. "Seto!" he cried heavily upon seeing his brother's face. He shook his brother. "Don't leave me! Not like this."

Kaiba didn't move. His eyes and mouth were both closed and he looked as though he was sleeping, except that his mouth was blue. The rope around his neck had bruised and worn the skin, despite his efforts. Both of his hands were tangled with the rope and the leather strap of his locket.

Joey and Tristan joined Yami and Bakura as they looked down at the two brothers. Mokuba was pleading with his brother to wake up but his words were almost un-audible as they were drown out by his cries.

"He's gone." Bakura was the one who approached Mokuba with the truth. He placed his hand on Mokuba's shoulder a felt the younger boy move away as he wrapped his arms around his brother and refused to let go.

"You all paid for it!" Yugi screamed at his friends. "The food, the village, nobody bothered to question the villagers about were the rest of them where or what dangers they are around here." He paused for a moment to catch his breath. "The food is left by duel monsters that are doing nothing more than luring their prey to their traps. That's the price that they pay for living so well. Siegfried confessed it to me."

"They left my brother to die." Mokuba spoke weakly as he got to his feet. He wiped the tears from his eyes and anger entered his voice. "They'll pay for this." He stormed passed Bakura and the other three but was stopped by Yugi who blocked his path. "Get out of my way!" he threatened the older boy.

"Returning to the village won't do any good." Yugi saw and felt the anger in Mokuba's eyes. He knew what pain and heartache the younger boy was experiencing since he had lost his family back in the city, although they were under different circumstances a loss was a loss, neither one was less painful than the other. "Getting revenge is going to bring your brother back. He's gone and you have to move on with your life."

Mokuba stared at Yugi with raging eyes which began to soften as his lip trembled.

"I'll kill them myself." Came a weak groan from the ground where Kaiba lay.

"Kaiba!" Yami exclaimed in surprise. "You're alive!""

"We thought ya were dead." Joey laughed.

"Sorry to disappoint." Kaiba replied as he removed the rope from around his neck and sat up.

Unable to say anything, Mokuba raced back to his brother and wrapped his arms tightly around him and cried. Kaiba felt himself knocked backwards by his brother's hug but managed to remain upright.

For a moment there was an eerie silence as the others felt awkwardly out of place as the Kaiba brothers held each other .Slowly Mokuba pulled away. "I though I'd lost you."

"Me too." Kaiba attempted a smile which made Mokuba cry more as he too tried to smile back. "You didn't think that I'd leave you whilst we were on non-talking terms did you?" Another smile which this time caused Mokuba to throw his arms back around Kaiba.

Kaiba waited until his brother had finished crying on his shoulder before he turned to Yugi and asked. "What do we do now?"

"We go away from here." Yugi simply replied. "Once you have rested."

"I don't need to rest." Kaiba rose to his feet. "Lead the way."

Having gained Kaiba's respect, Yugi lead them away from the village and it's surrounding land, leaving behind them the villagers who were doomed to remain in their damned village until it was time for each of them to meet their own end.