My Oath Chapter 3: Remains, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

AN: I'm so sorry for the lateness of this chapter. For everyone that reviewed it. Thank you. I had Chapter three ready a while ago, but unfortunately due to the heat and the weather, my computer crashed to where I lost everything. There have been some family issues, so I couldn't get into writing anything. But now I'm back to myself and thank you all for reading this story. I'm sure that Kanika would enjoy hearing your responses to it. I should note that Najja was supposed to be Nadija, I have to edit. XD

My Oath

The remains and the secret village, part three

I can barely recall the events that followed that night I slept under the stars. With the weather clear, four riders took off for Kul Elna, sent by my father to scout it out. I was watching over Bakura, who was examining the horses. He stared at them with almost a sad look. Wandering over I stood beside him and saw him examine the way the riders were breaking in the horses. Nadija grinned up at us from a painted stallion and got off near Bakura.

"So what do you think of him?" He petted the slick coat and Bakura shrugged.

"The horse looks good, the rider, I hazard a guess to think he needs more lessons in riding."

Nadija snorted at him, then gave me a wink and smiled at my companion. Ever since the night of the festival I had become less eager to spend time with my brother, and this had taken him by surprise. He seemed to mostly ignore the fact that I was trying to distance myself from him. Smiling some he spoke with a friendly tone that didn't quiet meet his eyes to Bakura, "Have you ever ridden Bakura?"

"No," Bakura said briskly and crossed his arms, "and you're not getting me on one of your nags."

He turned then and grabbed my arm, "Come on."

"What, I wanted to watch the horses," I told him, and he made a face at me. His violet eyes showing a bit of unnerve as he spoke to me.
"Fine, oh Queen of flies, enjoy seeing a bunch of sweaty asses run around in circles. And I don't mean the animals either." He walked at a fast pace away from me and the riders who jeered at him. I shook my head, and sighed following after, my legs a bit shorter then his.

"Why are you always trying to make trouble?" I asked catching up with him. He just shrugged. Didn't it matter to him that people were saying horrible things about him? Yet, unlike so many other men I knew, he seemed to pride himself at being called names. "Well say something to me?"

"I don't have to."

"Yes, you do," I spouted and cut in front of him. "You've been brisk all day. Why?"

"Doesn't matter, now move," he ordered, his violet eyes flashing darkly. "I want to be on my own for a while, and I don't need you following me, dumb girl."

"I'll walk where I like," I told him and he sneered.

"Fine, but you're not walking with me."

He side stepped me and nearly ran down towards the old tent. I let out a cry of annoyance as he left me and stormed off to find my sisters. Men! Who does he think he is? I felt my face heat up as I walked, anger welling in me. I didn't know what to think of him; at times he would be course, mean, and outright cruel to me. Still there were times when he was actually gentle, but faked that he didn't care. So which was the true Bakura?

Heading inside Hasina's tent, as I figured they would all be in there conversing like a gaggle of geese, I found myself confronted by my eldest sister. "What's wrong with that boy?"

"Huh?" I blinked unsure of what she was talking about. She thrust one of Nadija's shirts into my chest. I took it slowly and found it wet, slightly sticky. Frowning I examined the red and blue shirt; the threads seemed darker then normal. I drew it to my nose to sniff it. Lapis shook her head as I did this, and opened up her mouth.

"Better make sure you don't get sick. It's too sweet for me to even get that close to my nose."

I suddenly gagged, and threw the shirt down on the floor. Akila stooped over and picked it up, her dark curly hair tickling her cheeks. When she stood up again, holding the shirt out, she commented, "Tell your friend to keep out of my husband's belongings."

"How do you know it was him?" I countered in defense. Crossing my arms I looked at her, "What is that smell anyway?"

Hasina looked up grimly, "Honey and sweet oils. He soaked it in it, and that's Nadija's best shirt. Akila took weeks to make that for him." She sniffed some and folded her hands trying to look more adult. Being four years older she felt she had a right to act older then she was, and treat me more like a child. I glared back. "He really should behave. He's lucky father's agreed to take him with us."

I nodded but added quickly, "He might not be the most polite of people, but he's honest about how he feels Hasina. Besides there's no proof that this is his doing and I won't stand here letting you bad mouth him like that."

Akila looked to Lapis who bit her lip, "I saw him arguing with Nadija, Kanika."

"So?" I spat back, and put my hands on my hips. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Everything," Akila shot back and flung the shirt back at me. "He and Nadija fought this morning. Now my husband's shirt is ruined. You better either clean it Kanika, or make him a new one."

"Fine…" I hissed back taking the sticky mess of a shirt. I balled it up in a small cloth that Lapis gave me, than stuck it in my jacket. "But if Bakura was not at fault I want the three of you to apologize to him."

Akila nodded and I set out of the tent. Rage welled in me. How could he do this? Just when people were starting to accept him…I shook my head. I needed to get to the bottom of it and fast. The sticky mess that was the shirt rubbed against the shirt below my jacket and I held tight to it. Dropping it would only make a bigger mess, and that was something I didn't want to deal with.
Heading into the center of our makeshift encampment I searched the faces for a pair of familiar violet eyes. He couldn't have gotten far, or so I thought. Voices called over at me in greeting as I passed, and I waved them off, my first priority was finding out about the shirt. The honey mixture seeped into my shirt and I felt it slick onto my skin. Wincing from the sensation I gritted my teeth as I asked about if anyone had seen him. I was greeted with some shrugs, and a few snorts. With a deep sigh I turned to head back for my tent when Kamuzu called to me. I turned and walked over towards the blind shaman, his hands stretched out to meet my shoulders as I knelt before him.

"Searching for him are you now?" He asked me kindly and I nodded. "Why?"

"I need to talk to him," I said pulling out the shirt and letting the old shaman feel the texture. He frowned.

"You think he did this?"

"I…" I paused and looked down at the mess of a shirt. Shaking my head slowly I wasn't sure what to make of it. Akila, Hasina, and Lapis were convinced he did it. What reason would they have to lie to me? But still…He gave me the shirt back and I held it close. "I don't know. I mean…I know he fought with Nadija, but…"

"But you are unsure of why, and what would make him do something like that." He touched my hands and smiled at me. "Perhaps you should ask him, rather then supposing what the others tell you, yes?"

I nodded once and got up. "Do you know where he is? Bakura I mean."

He smiled and motioned to the back of his tent. I thanked him and slipped inside. Bakura was sitting, cross-legged, on the floor. His eyes were staring down at the ground at the various images on Kamuzu rug; he blinked as my shadow fell over him. If only at that time I could have known what he was thinking, maybe then I could have understood him better. I sat down, and he frowned some.
"I thought you'd be off making comments about me with your prince."

I shrugged and tossed the shirt at him, "I want to know about this?"

He snorted some, "Why? It's just a dirty thing."

"Dirty things have meaning. It used to be very clean," I said to him and nudged the shirt with my index finger. He stared at me with a look of mock puzzlement.

"So you want me to clean it for you?"

I scowled, "No. I want to know how it got dirty in the first place."

"He, looks like Jaja dumped it in something sweet." He tossed it back at me then licked his fingers. I caught it and flung it back at him. He stared at me, and batted it to the side. "I'm not going to touch that."
"And I'm not going to fix it till you tell me why you ruined it." I spat back and he got up crossing over to me he shoved his face in mine. I flinched some at the cold look in his eyes as he grabbed my arm. "Hey stop…"

"No…You listen here. I didn't ruin that damn shirt. Don't you dare go accusing me of something I didn't do you dumb girl. Why don't you go take that shirt to your precious Prince, maybe he'll give you a nice reward for bring it to him." He let go of my arm and headed for the entrance of the tent. I got up, grabbing the shirt and threw it at his head.
"You ass! I was defending you to them!" I yelled at him and the turned to wave an indecent gesture at me. Normally I was the level headed one of my sisters, so my father seemed to think, and I regularly avoided outwardly attacking anyone. But his action had angered me, hurt me, too much. I remembered crashing to the ground on top of him, pinning him to the ground, face in the sand.

"Get off!" Bakura spat at me, trying to flip me off him. Kamuzu had wandered off by then, so it was just the two of us tussling in the sand. His fist met my face, and my hands pulled at his hair.

"Take it back…" I screamed at him and he looked up at me with haunted eyes as tears formed in my eyes. "Take it back…I'm not like that! I don't….I never…I like him…that's all. I don't…"

Bakura shoved me off him and picked me up pushing me back into the tent, then gathered up some cloth. "Quit crying…and damn why do you have to bleed easily?"

I scowled some, "I…I don't bleed that easily. You just hit to hard."

"I pulled that punch," he spat at me and pressed the cloth to my cheek. Letting out a sigh he sat next to me and snorted, "Why the hell do you think I did that to the shirt?"

"Because, it seems like something you would do." I said scathingly, but the words never met my eyes. He chuckled some.

"You have some nerve you know."

"So you keep telling me," I went quiet and looked him in the eyes. "So what happened? Honestly, no stories, no sarcastic quips. Akila seems to think you have it in for Nadija…."

Bakura let out a "Feh" before he shifted some to get more comfortable. I wasn't sure if he was just leaving the pressure on my cheek to actually staunch the blood anymore, or if it was just his way of annoying me. The feeling of the cloth was rough against my skin, and I really didn't like it, but I said nothing. The fact that he had gone as far as to do this for me was surprising, considering I had accused him of dispatching a very expensively made shirt. Closing his eyes for a moment he seemed to make up his mind.

"He just pisses me off," Bakura went on to say and locked eyes with me to see if I was going to get mad. I chose to ignore the annoyance boiling in me and nodded, so he continued. "His whole attitude pisses me off, and he's a creep, yet no one even notices. Not even you."

"So did you fight with him this morning?" I asked. He snorted some.

"We had words."

"What sort of words?"

He glanced at me, "Words that girls like you shouldn't say."

I lowered my eyelids, "You go off saying I'm a whore, than you say that I shouldn't hear bad words. Boy you're being rather hypocritical aren't you?"

At this he laughed with his "Kukuku" and smirked at me some, "You think it's hypocritical to say that? You haven't been out in the world very much, have you?"

I flushed angrily, "I'm only ten you moron."

"Yeah I noticed. You act like a kid."

"Oh shut up." I spat and pinched his calve for it. He pulled his leg back and rubbed it. "So you cursed at him about what?"

"That's none of your business."

"Then I'll ask him," I said dryly and he snorted.

"And get a lie out of it. Look it doesn't matter what he said. Just stay away from him." Bakura told me bluntly and shifted his other leg over the first one. I chuckled some wondering if it was to get a better seating position, or to keep me from pinching him again.

"Why should I listen to what you say, Oh lord or tall tales?" I said coolly. He rolled his eyes at me and sneered.

"Because, O' Fool of the Sand flies, he indicated to me that he doesn't think very highly of me. So it pissed me off, but I didn't do that to the stupid shirt. For all I know he did it himself to make me look bad."

I furrowed my brow and scowled, "Why should he ruin Akila's shirt?"

He gave me an incredulous look, "You mean you don't know that he…"

The last words were cut off by the sound of shouting as the riders returned, and Bakura started to get up. I reached up and touched his hand with mine; he paused and looked at me curiously. For some reason I didn't want him going out there, something bad was going to be said…something about the way the shouting was. No good would come of it.

"Stay in here with me please," I said softly and he nodded. We waited in silence as hushed voices passed us. I drew in breaths as I caught some of the words, "Place is a ghost town." "Dried blood…" "Poor Boy…must have seen it all." "Place will be cursed." "You think he knows what happened there?" "Bodies…there were none." "Ravaged by fire…" "No one could survive that…must have been shocking…"

Bakura heard this too, he got up suddenly, shoving my hand on the cloth, and "I'm going. Stay here all you want. I don't want to hear this crap."

I dropped the cloth and tore off after him as he marched out of the tent. The moment he stepped out and passed a small congregation of gossiping women they stopped talking and stared at him with pity in their eyes. His fists balled up and he doubled his pace, sending them a dark glare. I followed as quickly as I could; ignoring the looks I got from people. Eventually I made it close enough to him to grab at his hand. He slowed some, sighed and tried to shake it off, but I didn't let go and instead held tighter saying nothing.

Bakura growled at me, "Let go, I don't want your pity or sympathy."

"It's not for that…" I said sharply, but kept my eyes down. He snorted.

"Then what's it for?"

"I don't want you to be lonely."

He paused at this and shrugged some, then tried to drop my hand. "I don't want or need anyone, dumb girl."

"I don't care if you say that. I'm supposed to take care of you." I said back and he glanced over his shoulder.

"So you're going to keep doing that huh? No matter what I do or become?" There was something creepy in his violet eyes. I stared back holding in my breath. I was frightened by him, but dared not indicate it; instead I looked back with a calm stare and swallowed some.

"No matter what you become or do. I gave my father my word that I would take care of you till you were well. So now I give you my word that I'll stick by you no matter what." I told him as we walked over to where his tent was. He turned and suddenly slapped me across the face. I didn't move only touched my cheek.

"You lie. Why would you want to hang around a creep like me," he sneered. "Kul Elna was a town of thieves. What makes you think I won't just kill you and then take your jewels?"

"Because you don't have any reason to, and we have none to take. Also…I don't think you're stupid, you know you have it good here. So why run out on us? Even if you slap me a million times, I won't scream or curse at you Bakura. You have my oath, and my word is something that I don't give lightly." I told him locking eyes with his. My face felt hot in the sun, and I balled up my fists. If he tried to hit me again though I'd belt him one, he didn't though. Instead he just stood there looking at me, and then snorted, smirking some and shaking his white head.
"You are some weird kind of girl, Kanika."

I blinked, "What did you call me?"

"Your name you idiot," he said turning to go into the tent. "I'm going to take a nap. See you later."

"But…" I stopped when he disappeared behind the tent flap. It was no use to try to talk to him, and I didn't get what had made him say my name. Wandering back into the camp I was struck by something odd in my chest, and I drew in a breath. My name, the way he said it, it wasn't sarcastic or mean. There was no coldness to it. Looking back I should have realized then what I was feeling, but I was a kid, just as he had said, so I didn't get it. But the fact still remained, when he said my name, my heart seemed to flutter.

The night brought about discussions, my father, realizing there was nothing we could do for the city, decided to head home.

"And what of the boy?" one of the men asked. My father had allowed me to come into the meeting this night and had me sit before them. I kept my eyes down until he addressed me.

"We shall take him with us, he will work for me," My father turned his head to look at me. "Kanika…you will teach him what he needs to know. I expect you to do your best."

I bowed lowly and nodded my head, "Yes of course father."

He seemed pleased by this reply because he let me leave then. I headed back for the tent to find Bakura sitting and peering through a box. A box that I had set on my table and was going to go through later, one that meant a lot to me. It was the remains of my mother's collection of jewels. His hands were cradling the few rings and weighing them in his palm. My eyes narrowed.

"Put those back!"

He looked up and blinked, then slowly smirked, "Don't have a fit. I was just seeing what you had in here."

I strolled over, snapping the lid shut, nearly catching his fingers. He frowned pulling them away fast. "What?"

"They're my mother's okay! You can't look at them." I said to him and drew out a breath then shoved the box under my cot. Glaring at him I sat down and spoke softly, "We're pulling out tomorrow. You're coming with."

"The hell I am," he spat back. "I'm not going to be a slave."

"You won't," I insisted, and he gave me a nasty look. I sighed. "You won't. I swear to you. Father will pay you. You'll be one of the work hands. You'll have your own room, food, clothing…and gold. I'm sorry it won't be a lot, we use what we sell to earn higher profits. So the less we sell, the less we can pay. But you will be paid. I swear to that, and you can leave at any time."

"So if I ran two days after, you wouldn't follow me?" He asked and I blinked.

"If you mean to drag you back, no. You'd be on your own."

"So basically I'm free to do what I want, I just have to follow your rules, and do my work?" He crossed his arms and I nodded. He chucked some, "You know I could rob you and leave then."

"Then we would go after you," I mused. "To get our property back, and more then likely we'd leave you to your own devices if you got caught. I haven't known one thief to ever come back, but I've never seen the men come back in blood. To murder is a sin in our tribe."

He frowned, "Does that go for Pharaoh's too?"

"That goes for everyone, even Amon-ra himself." I told him with a serious look in my eyes. Murder was frowned upon in my tribe, in fights the idea is either to avoid being in one, or to wound only. Bakura stared at me with his cold eyes for a long while then finally nodded.
"Alright, I guess I could stick around. Just don't get in my way."

"So long as you listen to me when I teach you what you need to do, I won't." I said with a smirk. His face dropped some.

"You're teaching me?"

I nodded then and got into my cot. He made a 'tch' sound with his tongue. "This should be fun then."

"Don't even think of causing me problems Lord of fleas." I muttered to him.

"Wouldn't think of it, Witch of Gnats." Came the reply and I looked behind lowered lashes at him as he fell to sleep. I smirked some thinking, Yes, life would be fun with you around Bakura.