Chapter 3: Human Contact
Kuruelna was by then nothing but ruins. It had been a while since the Egyptian soldiers had come to perform the ritual which created the 7 Millennium Items. Nothing much there except a few outlaws and theives looking for forgotten treasure or something which might be of value. Whatever was there, it was the only thing I had seen besides desert. I still don't know what I expected to find there but I found something none the less...
Juliana slowly walked into the city, looking around and scanning the area. The city was like a ghost town; no one in sight, not a creature making noise but the wind on the fallen buildings. She continued walking, looking all around...completely alert. Once she reached what seemed to be the center of the city, she heard rustling in an alleyway and quickly hid behind a boulder. A boy not much older than her came out and looked around. He had long, silver spiked hair and light purple eyes and wore old, dirty Egyptian robes. He went to a pile of rubble and began digging. After a little while, he threw a small rock toward Juliana's boulder. She made a small sound and he immediatly looked over.
"Who's there!" he yelled. He slowly walked toward the boulder. "I know you're there! Now come out!"
Juliana slowly looked from an edge of the boulder and slowly, quietly walked into view. The boy, seeing as she was no threat, loosed up.
"Where'd you come from? You scared me, geez!" said the boy. Juliana only stayed silent and looked at him. He blinked. "Can you...talk at all?" When she once again did not say anything, he sighed and turned around. "Well if you won't say anything, that's fine with me. You can help if you want but anything you find is mine!" He went back to digging in his rubble and after a while, Juliana joined him.
Just as the sun was beginning to set, they had almost reached the bottom of the rubble when something gold shone inbetween a group of rocks. Juliana was the first to spot it, and pulled it out of the rocks hard, falling to the ground. The boy looked at her and his eyes widened when they caught site of the golden goblet which Juliana had retrieved from the rubble.
The boy grabbed it out of her hands and stared at it in the setting sun. "It's gold...! Real gold! I finally found something!" With all of his excitement, he didn't realize how loud he was actually yelling. Soon a group of men came out of a tunnel not to far from them and walked toward the two children.
"Eh? What's all the yelling about, Bakura?" said a man.
The boy looked at the men and hid the goblet behind his back. "Nothing Hondo. It's nothing"
Another one of the men grabbed Bakura's arm and yanked the object out, looking at it. "Nothing, huh? Does this look like nothing to you, boys?" The men in unison said no and began to laugh.
"Hey! That's mine! Give it back Chigaru!" Bakura yelled. He kept jumping to grab the golden cup but the men were both older and taller than the young boy.
"Aw get over it." Chigaru looked over at Juliana and laughed. "What's this? Bakura found a cup and a slave today!"
Juliana just sat, staring at the scene. The object that had taken was obviously important to Bakura, and she felt it wasn't right for them to take it, since it was Bakura's spot to begin with.
"She's not a slave, she's a helper! Now give back that goblet!" Bakura yelled. He then ran and kicked in the shin as hard as he could.
"Ow! You little brat! I'll make you and your little friend pay for that!" He removed a small Egyptian dagger from behind him, as did the other men.
Juliana saw a chance and quickly jumped up, grabbing Chigaru's arm in which his hand held the goblet.
"Get off!" he shouted. He slashed at Juliana's arm and just as she fell, she had grabbed the goblet.
Bakura saw she had gotten it, and grabbed her arm. "Come on!" They both started running while the group of men followed. Running as fast as possible, Bakura and Juliana jumped into a small hole in an alleyway and slide down into a hidden chamber. The men ran passed the escape hole, without seeing them enter.
Once they reached the bottom of the tunnel, Bakura looked up and listened. When everything was quiet, he let out a deep sigh. "That was close..." He looked at Juliana, who was holding the goblet out to him. He took it and smiled. "I guess you've earned something after all that. Come on," he said. He stood and started walking down the hallway, Juliana following.
They soon walked into a dimly lit room. There were a few buckets used as seats, and a few recovered treasures in a corner. Bakura placed the goblet in the corner and walked over to a small chest and took out two sandwiches. He tossed one to Juliana and sat down. He ate and watched her, probably making sure she didn't try to steal anything while his back was turned.
Juliana just stared at the sandwich. She had never eaten and this object seemed strange. Just turned it over and over is what she did, as if expecting it to do something suddenly.
Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Hey. You know it's rude if someone offers you food and you don't eat it. I didn't poison it or anything." Juliana finally took a bit and the two children sat and ate in silence. When Bakura finished he sighed and looked at the ceiling. "Someday I'm going to be strong enough to get out of here...possibly make a living being a theif since it seems I'm good at that. Then one day..." his face got angrier and he clenched his fists, "I'm gonna get those murderers who came through and destroyed this place."
Juliana blinked looking at him as he once again went through the chest. He took out a scroll and sat next to her. He then rolled it out to reveal a map. He pointed to a spot on it. "This is where we are. Kuruelna Village." Bakura slowly moved his finger up and stopped. "And this...is where the Pharaoh and his group of killers are."
The eyes on Juliana's head widened at the word "Pharaoh" and she remembered the scene where the man who seemed like her father had yelled at word, not long before his death. She watched Bakura walk back to where he was sitting, the map in his hands. "Just watch. One day they'll have something to be afraid of." He looked at Juliana. "So, where are you headed?"
She only looked at him for a moment, then pointed to the map. Bakura threw the map to her and she pointed to the place he had pointed to.
Bakura blinked and looked at her. "Why would you want to go there?"
"Mmm..." Juliana looked down at her feet.
"Fine then. Get out of here." snapped Bakura.
Juliana stood and grabbed the scroll. She started walking out when she turned and bowed to Bakura. She then turned back and walked out into the ruined streets. The journey began by quickly looking around the area, then running. Running as fast as she could toward the direction which the map had shown.
And so began my journey to the place which would probably play the most part of my life...and my destiny. It didn't take me long to reach the outskirts of the city. By running I made about a quarter the way until I met a band of travelers who just happened to be going the same direction I was. They were kind enough to lend me a ride...