Been a while since I updated, much sorrys for the wait.
Don't own Yu-Gi-OH! Never will. Though I really want to at least get the Japanese DVDs.
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Chapter Thirteen: Between Slayers and Magicians…
He sat leaning back with his hands behind his, sunk into his spiky, fiery red hair. The summer sun was comfortable and warmed him where he dozed on the branch of his tree.
His bored comfort was interrupted when a 'boom' trembled through the forest and he jumped up. Looking over the treetops from his perch, he caught the cloud of smoke rising from further down the road.
Looking to the base of his tree to the road below him, he found a woman with long white hair and man with braided silver hair running from four cloaked men on horseback.
Positioning himself, he jumped down and knocked one rider off his horse. Drawing the sword hooked to the horse's saddle he went on to fight the other assailants.
Surprisingly, the man and woman returned; throwing bolts of lightning and calling spears up from the earth they ran into the fray. With the combination of the three's skills as well as the aid of the stolen horse, the battle was over rather quickly and the swordsmen vanished in bursts of smoke.
Sighing, breathless from combat, he dismounted and held the horse's reins as he turned to the others. "Are you alright?"
He didn't really get an answer, because when his dark brown eyes met the woman's deep blue and the other man's single red-orange eye something happened.
A beautiful ringing sound filled the air and he could see rainbows of light surround them all. They could only stand there staring at each other in awe until after a short eternity it faded, the feeling of true happiness remained blooming in his heart.
"So…" the man smiled, shifting so that the black cloth covering his other eye was visible. "We found you after all."
It took a while, but he managed to find his voice. "Who…who are you?"
- - -
Shizuka slowly resurfaced from sleep, and for a moment was confused as to where and who she was.
When her memory returned she sat up and looked at Miho sleeping in the bed across from her own; then to her sword beside her pillow along with her bag. She looked at her hands, finding they were her own and not those of the strange man in her dreams, and breathed a sigh.
Stepping out of bed, Shizuka crossed the room to the window and looked out at the street. Hers and Miho's room was on the first floor while her brother's and Atem's was on the second, so she couldn't get a very good view as she had from their room.
Nothing moved outside, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Crossing the room again, Shizuka made it to the door and opened it. And immediately any remaining traces of sleep fled; out in the infamous Bandit Keith, surrounded by dozens of other rough-looking men.
Shizuka slammed the door shut again and locked it before Keith even barked at his men to grab her.
"Miho! Miho, wake up!"
The young, lavender-haired beauty snapped awake and sat up. "Wh-What is it?"
Shizuka heard the 'click' of the door being unlocked and pressed her back against the door, struggling to keep it closed. "Push the dresser in front of the door!"
Miho jumped up to carry out the order, but found the piece of furniture was too heavy for her to move very far, and seeing that time was an issue, instead knocked the table in front of the door followed by the two chairs.
Shizuka was content to let that hold for a little while and proceeded to try and push the dresser in the way as well.
"Shizuka-san, what's going on?" Miho asked.
"There are…bandits out there…!" Shizuka replied, straining with the dresser.
"You're kidding!" Miho quickly helped to push the piece of furniture in the way of the door.
"I saw Keith! It's got to be them!"
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When the men that went for Shizuka found they were unable to break through the door, Keith called them back. "Leave her for now! She's not going anywhere! Let's get the others!"
The bandits rushed upstairs, following their spies directions to the rooms Pegasus and Katsuya occupied.
The sorcerers' room was broken into quietly, and finding the two pale-haired magic-users sleeping deeply made their way into the room and stabbed them.
The form of Pegasus, however, shifted into a shadow before the Doppelganger turned and lunged at the bandits. Ryou's image burst into shreds of paper.
The men were too startled by the attack from the shape-shifter to notice the two real sorcerers when they removed the invisibility spell outside the room. Pegasus snapped his fingers and shut the door just as his explosion spell activated.
"They attacked much earlier than we anticipated," Ryou said, taking a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart.
"Nonetheless, we were wise to expect them," Pegasus said. It was then that a shadow crept underneath the door, connected with his and his Doppelganger popped up, shaking soot from itself. "I'm sorry about that, but I was certain it wouldn't hurt you."
Just then, more men came charging toward them and they engaged in battle.
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Luckily awoken by the explosion from Pegasus' spell, Katsuya and Atem were wide awake in time for the bandits to barge in. But as well as they were holding up, it was proving difficult with only the two of them.
"Jounouchi, we can't fend them off forever!" Atem called. He knocked his opponent to the ground and rolled out of the way of another, making the second bandit stab his partner's arm. "We're losing room!"
Katsuya agreed completely with Atem's statement; the room was spacious enough to fight, but the bandits just kept coming and it was getting too cramped. The blond dropped and rolled out of the way of a bandit's sword to his bag where he withdrew three balls.
"Atem! Hold your breath!"
With that warning, he threw the balls down and they exploded, filling the rooms with smoke. Katsuya grabbed the estranged Pharaoh and jumped out the window.
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Shizuka saw her brother and Atem hit the ground outside; they picked themselves up, shook their dizziness away and ran off down the street.
"Onii-chan!" She pulled on her boots and gloves and strapped her sword to her waist. She would have jumped out her own window right then, but she saw several other men chase after them and quickly ducked to avoid being seen.
When they were gone, she quickly opened the window and looked back at Miho. "Close this and lock it after me," she said. "Don't open it and don't uncover the door until I tell you to. No one else; I will tell you."
Miho nodded and did as the Slayer had directed once she clambered out the window.
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Pegasus blasted one man away with a lightning bolt and kicked another one down the stairs. Backed by his Doppelganger who bit and clawed at anyone who came near him, the sorcerer dashed down the stairs to find his apprentice.
In the dining area, Ryou continued to avoid being sliced with exceptional agility, leaving the tables and chairs to take the blows. He would have used magic to fight back, but he could feel the Black creep up in the back of his mind and knew he wouldn't be able to suppress it if he called on magic.
The youth tripped when he stepped back into two chairs that hadn't been pushed in and fell to the floor. The bandit saw and opportunity and smiled sickly as he raised his sword above his head.
Ryou felt an incredible fear for his life and the Black nearly took hold, when the bandit froze. It was then he saw the tip of a sword protruding from the man's chest. Looking past him, he was shocked to see Shizuka standing behind the bandit, her sword thrust into his back.
The bandit choked, letting his raised sword fall from his hands as he fell to the floor.
Shizuka pulled her sword out and looked at Ryou gently. "Are you alright?"
He could only nod, unable to find his voice.
A creak made Shizuka whirl around and put her sword to Pegasus' throat. "Sorry," she said and quickly pulled back. "Are you okay?"
"Fine, aside from the attempts on my life," the sorcerer replied before looking around skeptically. "I hate to imagine what this will cost us. Are you and Ryou okay?"
"I am alright," his apprentice replied as he got to his feet.
"Which is more than I can say for Onii-chan and Atem!" Shizuka said. "They ran off down the street with who knows how many bandits on their tails! Let's go!"
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Katsuya and Atem hid tucked away in a storage area beneath a bridge as they caught their breath.
"I've had attempts on my life before," the Pharaoh panted. "But this is the first time in such a large number."
Katsuya shrugged breathlessly. "I deal with monsters, not people, so this is a first… No, second for me."
Their lungs finally calmed down and they hid themselves deeper in the clutter.
"What was the first?" Atem asked, receiving an odd look from the blond. "You said this was a second time you dealt with being attacked by people; what was your first?"
Katsuya looked out towards the mouth of the storage area warily. "It was when I was still a kid," he replied. "A bunch a soldiers attacked this village that my Mom was treating."
"You're mother was a healer?"
"A doctor, yeah. Anyway, these guys…they didn't show any mercy, on anyone. Women and kids were cut down trying to get away…and my Mom died, protecting me and Shizuka…" Katsuya looked back at the Pharaoh. "Shizuka didn't want to dishonor her second name, so she chose to get stronger," he said. "She still doesn't think she's as strong as our mother, so she doesn't like going by her second name."
Atem stared. "I…I don't understand. Why not become a doctor like her mother?"
The blond chuckled humorlessly. "I don't know. I guess it's so she could understand the pain of those who fight more."
The Pharaoh still didn't understand, but didn't have the opportunity to ask further when they heard dome bandits near the exit.
"It's suspicious here," they heard one guy said. "It's filled with junk."
"What the hell," the other with him scoffed. "Clear the whole thing out." That was followed by a chorus of breaking crates and pots.
"Stay here," Katsuya said, raising his sword. "I'll have to really take it up a couple notches."
Atem objected. "Jounouchi, you can't hold them off!"
"I know I won't be able to, but I can't very well put royalty of another country in danger, can I?"
The blond looked back at him with a smile. "Just be sure to find Yuugi and give him his body back, okay?" And with that he turned and ran out.
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"I FOUND THEM!"
Keith and the rest of his men dashed toward the call, just barely catching the shouts of their fellow bandits being cut down before they were confronted by a very fierce-looking Jounouchi Katsuya.
As much as he hated it, Katsuya knew he would have to kill them if he was to have any chance of winning. And so he cut his sword through them to do just that.
He seemed to be winning, if the drawing back of the bandits was any indication, when a bandit hurled a chain with a weight attached to it out and caught the Slayer's sword arm. Before Katsuya could attempt to remove it, Keith came out of nowhere, his sword at the ready, and the slayer watched at he was run through.
Blood rose up in his throat and the blond coughed it up as he fell to the ground.
"I've got you now!" Keith brought his sword up, but never had the chance to deliver the finishing blow—Atem came running and rammed into the bandit leader. The hit reopened the man's wounded side, making him cry out and made it worse when they impacted with the ground, rendering him immobile while the Pharaoh got back up.
"Jounouchi!" Atem crawled over to the blond and covered the stab wound with his hand. "Hold on!"
Another bandit ran at the Pharaoh, but he stumbled when an arrow hit his leg and fell with a cry. Following the projectile, Shizuka, Pegasus and Ryou ran toward them.
"Shizuka!" Atem called. "Jounouchi's been hurt!"
The fiery-haired young woman felt her heart freeze at the Pharaoh's words, but she found her legs immobile upon seeing the blood flowing form her brother's chest. The sight stirred memories she had fought bury, and they rose unbidden from the recesses of her thoughts.
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The blood of her friends and comrades was spattered everywhere across the walls and floor, even on her face and in her hair.
She sat in complete terror at the sight she had been caught in, and the monsters that had killed her fellow slayers were edging closer to make a new kill. She knew she had to move or else she would decorate the walls as well, but she just couldn't bring herself to budge.
She caught a glint of gold shimmering out of the corner of her eye, and turned to find one of her closer friends lay barely a foot from touching her side. His short, curly sunshine-blond hair hid his face, but she somehow knew his violet eyes were open and void of life.
He had died protecting her, because she had been so scared she couldn't move.
The monster lunged and she screamed, but the terror that had previously kept her from moving now gave her a burst of strength and she gripped her sword…
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Again, Shizuka found she couldn't move. 'No…Not again!'
Pegasus and Ryou rushed over to Katsuya. "Is he breathing?"
"Barely," Atem replied.
Master and apprentice placed their hands over the wound in the slayer's chest and whispered soft words that called a soft light from their palms to the injury.
Shizuka gripped her bow tightly, when she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Bandit Keith strain and finally get to his feet.
"YOU!"
With all the strength he could muster, the man ran off, the few men left of his band scurrying after their leader.
Shizuka started after them. "Shizuka, stop!" Atem shouted, halting the young woman's pursuit. "Chasing after them blindly on your own won't help your brother!"
Knowing it was true, she turned back and fell to her knees at her brother's side, taking his bloodstained hand in hers as she removed the chain binding it. "Is he going to be alright?"
"It's very deep," Ryou said. "Our recovery spells won't be enough to heal this."
Atem looked from the white-haired youth to his bleeding patient; vaguely recalling his power return and healing Shizuka's bruise that morning, he prayed that he could muster enough energy for this injury.
Placing his hands over Pegasus and Ryou's, Atem closed his eyes and dug deep into his wellspring of power that was granted to his forefathers. A gold light covered Katsuya's body, the slayer's face contorted in pain, and he returned the grip on his hand.
His sister blinked and held his strengthening hand. "Onii-chan?"
Pegasus continued to apply his own recovery spell, but stared at the tri-colored youth before him. It was common knowledge that those of the Black Dragon regions possessed no magic whatsoever, and yet here this young man was; making the sight even more incredible was that he knew it wasn't a spell belonging to his type of magic.
Shamanism was the only other type of magic that healed, it was one its greater powers. He eyed the youth a moment more before placing all his focus on the wounded blond they were tending to.
The light faded and Katsuya sighed in relief before slowly opening his eyes. "Shizuka…"
"Onii-chan!" His sister hugged him tightly, but quickly drew back upon his grunt of pain. "Ah! Gomen…!"
"S'okay…" he replied. "What happened?" He looked past his sister. "Who're all these people…?"
At his latter question they all looked up to find themselves surrounded by several villagers who had stepped out of their houses to see what the commotion outside was all about; they, being too focused on treating Katsuya, hadn't noticed them.
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A couple miles outside town, three desert-dwellers rode tiredly through the dark of night.
Malik and his siblings had made very good time crossing the desert, but the past week in the foreign land had proven to have its own adversities. And it was hardly the monsters, though they had encountered a good number; it was the people that proved more of an obstacle.
Hardly any of the towns and villages they had stopped in treated them kindly, supposedly because dark-skinned people were a rare and usually unwelcome sight. They had found themselves sleeping out in the woods more often than they really wanted to.
"I'm so sleepy…" Malik yawned.
"Do you want us to settle down for the night, Master Malik?" Inquired Rishid.
Looking back at his sister and servant-brother Malik could see how tired they were, but also knew they wouldn't object if he chose to keep riding. They knew how urgent it was that they find the Pharaoh, and had ridden straight through the night without rest on many occasions to make it this far.
"We will stop and rest for the night," he finally replied as he dismounted. "We can afford to wait until morning to keep going. We need a break, and I'm sure our horses do too."
Rishid dismounted as well and started toward Isis' mount to help her down, when someone jumped down from a nearby ledge onto the horse and cracked the reins to make it burst into a run.
"Isis!" Malik jumped back onto his horse and chased after his sister.
The former priestess beat against her captor, but he seemed too strong to harm. She then came up with another course of action; grabbing him around the torso, she pushed off and sent the two of them tumbling to the ground.
"You bitch!" The man slapped her and drew out a dagger. He never got the chance to use it, because at that moment Malik jumped from his own horse and kicked him away from his sister.
"Are you alright, Sister?" He asked. The woman winced as she touched her face, but nodded.
Malik turned to the thief and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, but he wasn't about to spill blood, especially in the presence of his sister. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath and touched his wellspring of power as he cast a spell.
Upon opening his amethyst orbs, there was a gold glow to them. The thief would have fought back, but his mind seemed to slow down and relax in a cloudy haze.
"You are going to tell me who you are and where you come from…"
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Later that night, or early the next morning depending on how you looked at it, the townsfolk had assisted in gathering the bodies of the dead bandits and bringing the badly wounded ones to the surgeon.
Back at the inn, Katsuya had been placed in another room, bandages adorning his arms and torso.
"I don't see what the big deal is," he grumbled. "It was just a small stab."
"That 'small stab' managed to puncture one lung, Jounouchi," Pegasus replied.
"Well, you guys took care of it, right? So what's the big deal?"
"Can you move?" Atem asked flatly.
The blond flinched before looking away. "…No."
"I may have been able to help the wound heal faster, but you lost a lot of blood," the Pharaoh said. "You'll likely be a little weak for at least two more days."
"Just concentrate on resting and getting your strength back," Ryou smiled. "Ne, Shizuka-sa—" The white-haired apprentice cut off when he turned to address the female slayer and found her sitting in the corner sleeping.
Katsuya chuckled. "It's been a rough night."
"Indeed," Pegasus smiled with a nod. "Shall we take her back to her room?"
"That's alright," Atem replied, surprising everyone. "She'll likely wake up and never get back to sleep if we try to move her."
Katsuya blinked, a little confused at his companion's decision, but shrugged. "Just cover her up; she sleeps like this all the time."
Doing so, Pegasus and Ryou left the room—as Atem climbed into his own bed to go on sleeping—and headed downstairs.
The lower floor was crowded, but the two mages somehow made it to the dining area where they were met by Arthur Hopkins. "How is your friend doing?"
"Jounouchi will fine, he just needs to get some rest," Ryou replied.
"I'm sorry to say that I believe my servant, Hank, may have let those bandits in," the man sighed. "He was on duty, but now I can't find him anywhere."
"We should be the ones to apologize," Pegasus said. "We caused more than a little damage to your residence…including blowing up one room…"
But Arthur shook his head. "You're doing us all a great service, I won't hold anything against you, sir." He started when someone bumped into Ryou. "Will you join me for a cup of tea? It's less crowded in my room."
Accepting the offer, the three of them made their way out of the throng of people and sat down as the innkeeper poured them each a cup of sweet smelling tea.
Ryou looked around the room, impressed with the various items he saw that were more often used on boats. "Were you a sailor, Mister Hopkins?"
"Oh, once upon a time," he smiled. "My father was more of a sea faring man, but he took me with him whenever he went traveling around the world, seeing what there was to see."
"Hmm…" The boy continued to scan the shelves, when he came across a small painting of what appeared to be a young Arthur Hopkins, and a girl that looked almost exactly like Rebecca. "Master Pegasus!"
Bringing the picture over, the sorcerer's one eye widened. "Mister Hopkins, who is this girl?"
Arthur took the picture and a sad smile tugged at his mouth. "That…was my daughter, Emilia, when she was twelve," he replied with a sigh. "When she was sixteen, she left with her mother to study abroad. In one of her last letters, she told me she had married a magician."
"Last…letters?" Ryou asked slowly.
The man nodded. "The last one was her announcing that she would come home, with her husband and their six year-old daughter…but…" He drew a shaky breath. "There was a storm that night…and their ship went down…" He chuckled sadly. "I never got to hold my granddaughter in my arms… Little Rebecca…"
Master and apprentice cast a glance at the other, and Pegasus smiled gently. "Mister Hopkins, I believe I should tell you about a little advisor to the Queen in the Red Dragon Kingdom…"
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The next day, just before noon, Shizuka and the others—excluding her brother, much to his chagrin—gathered to head out for the bandits' hideout. The ones that hadn't died the previous night had supplied the location, as well as the warning of various booby traps.
"Are you sure that you'll be alright on your own?" The mayor asked.
"There should only be a few left," Shizuka said. "They shouldn't be too much of a hassle."
"If they're still there in any case…" Pegasus muttered.
Mounting their horses, Shizuka looked at Atem as she tied on her mask. "Any complaints?"
The youth pondered on what Katsuya had told him the previous night about the girl, still not sure if he understood it all. "I still object, but I will not hinder you," he replied.
And with that, the slayer, the Pharaoh and the two sorcerers rode off.
"I worry for them," the mayor said. "Smaller numbers or not, those bandits won't be easy."
"Have some faith in them," Arthur said. "They can bring hope where there is none."
The mayor turned to the innkeeper. "You speak as if from experience."
He nodded. "I do…"
"Excuse me?" At the new voice, the two men turned to meet Malik, Isis and Rishid, with Arthur's previous servant slung over the back of one of their horses unconscious. "I was told that there was a prison nearby…?"
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This chapter actually continued, but my beta and I decided it would bet better to split it than post all 38 pages in ONE HUGE CLUMP.
So…yes. Chapter 14 tomorrow. Yes.