A/N - Here ya go, Dragon.

As always thank you Dukie.

"Can you fly?"

"I dunno…why?"

"Flying would be cool."

Seto and Atemu were seated at the edge of a fountain in the courtyard which the majestic palace surrounded; the tips of Atemu's small bronze fingers dipped into the fountain and he wondered if he was allowed to swimming in the water; the hot sun was beating down on them and Atemu desperately wanted to cool off.

"Maybe I can," Atemu insisted. Hopping off the fountain edge, the young Shadow Creature began fluttering his wings with little reaction.

"That's pretty pathetic."

Atemu glared at the prince with his tiny crimson eyes but he kept the shadows at bay. Whether he wanted to admit it or not the prince was starting to grow on him even though they'd only been together for a few days. "I'm trying my best."

"My father says that simply trying will only lead to failure."

Yami crossed his arms over his small chest. "Hmph. I don't like your father."

"Don't talk like that," Seto hissed, darting his head around to see if anyone had overheard the young Shadow Creature but fortunately they were completely alone. "My father created you, you should be grateful."

"The only thing I'm grateful for is the fact he gave me to you. I refuse to be the slave of any other man." Atemu scowled and spat the word 'slave' and Seto felt a ping of sorrow for the child. Atemu would spend his entire live serving the royal family, expected to follow the commands of Seto's heirs; only in death would Atemu be free.

"You should continue with your practicing."

With a nod of his head, Atemu closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Violently the Shadow Creature began flapping his tiny wings but again nothing happened. With a sigh, Atemu halted his wings and opened his eyes.

"One day, I'll fly," he vowed.

Seto and Atemu quickly fell into a steady routine. In the morning Seto would take Atemu for a walk; in the afternoon the prince made his pet show off his shadow skills as Seto was eager to learn the types of powers Atemu possessed; at night, after eating with his father, Seto would return to his room where Atemu waited for him. Atemu would then eat whatever Seto snuck to him from that night's meal. Although Atemu would always beg to raid the storage room again, Seto would refuse. Barbarians were invading the land from the west again so Gozaburo now had an army of Shadow Guards roaming the palace after dark looking for spies; the child could easily evade humans but he was no match for more powerful and experienced of his own kind.

When Atemu was finished with his food, it was bath time. Stripping both himself and Atemu naked, Seto would lead the Shadow Creature to the adjoining room, which was used for bathing. Preferring to handle the duties himself, instead of using attendants, it was Seto's job to make sure that both he and the child were clean.

Currently it was bath time.

"Sit still!" Seto commanded as Atemu squirmed away from the cloth the young prince held; the child loved the water and would rather play instead of washing.

"Have some fun for once!" Atemu playfully laughed as he flicked water at Seto with his tail causing an angry Seto to brush soggy brunet hair out of his eyes.

"I just want to get cleaned up so I can go to bed," the prince complained. "Since I'm the one who has to wake up early in the morning to walk you."

"I'll be awake too!" Atemu replied with a roll of his eyes. Turning around to face Seto, the Shadow Creature splashed him again.

"Just leave me alone," Seto grumbled. Scooting over to the side furthest away form Atemu, Seto began running a damp cloth over his body.

"You can be such a bore Seto." Atemu began swimming around the small pool using his tail to propel himself. "The life is just sucking out of you."

"I have to live up to expectations," Seto replied with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Pausing his paddling around, Atemu swam over to Seto and wrapped an arm around the prince's shoulders. "Around me, be yourself."

"Why?"

"Because I'm your friend."

Seto grew quiet for a few minutes thinking over what Atemu had said. "I never had a friend before."

"Well you now have me," Atemu replied with a huge grin on his face.

The pair finished up their bath, after Atemu decided to obey Seto's commands to be washed. Afterwards the child scurried back into the main room and began bouncing on Seto's bed.

"Do you mind?" Seto complained as he tossed a kilt to the naked child, the white kilt landing on top of Atemu's head, covering his face.

"Hey!" Atemu protested, yanking the kilt off his head.

"Atemu, I want to go to sleep."

"But I want to go out!"

"You know we can't do that."

"Why not? I'm strong enough to hide form other Creatures!"

"Atemu just go to sleep," Seto commanded with a tired yawn; taking care of a pet was harder than he realized. Crawling under the covers, Seto rested his head against his pillow, closed his eyes and hoped the child got the hint to go to sleep.

Sure enough, Atemu stopped bouncing around, put on the kilt and was soon snuggling against Seto's warm body.

"Good night Seto."

"Night Atemu."

"I hate this stupid thing," Atemu grumbled as his fingers toyed with the golden leash.

Atemu had wanted to explore so Seto had agreed to take the Shadow Creature outside the palace for their daily walk. Currently they were sitting on the sandy ground next to a massive river.

"I don't make the laws."

"But you will!"

"Not for many more years though."

A look of huge disappointment crossed Atemu's face. "Oh."

With a sigh Seto found himself looking around trying to see if they were alone. Finding no one around, Seto reach over and undid the leash. "Stay close," he warned. "No one can catch us."

"Seto thank you!" Atemu cried, flinging his arms around Seto's neck.

"It can only be for a few minute. Someone will be coming along soon."

"Then let's get further away from here!" Jumping to his feet, Atemu grabbed Seto's hands and pulled him up as well. Together they began running along the river, away from the palace, with Seto being dragged behind a giggling Atemu.

Seto stumbled and the pair fell to the ground.

"Atemu!" Seto yelled at the laughing child. "Have you gone mad? You can't do that!"

"I can do anything I want!" Atemu boldly claimed. "I'm the greatest Creature ever to live! For centuries people will talk of my powers! Hahahaha!"

"Talk about a power trip," Seto grumbled as he kneeled next to his slave, who was still spread out on the ground next to him. Atemu's tail was stretched out in the sand, swaying back and forth over the dirt in content.

"It's not a power trip," Atemu argued as he rolled his eyes. "I'll only use my powers the way you tell me, Silly."

"Don't call me Silly."

"But you are silly!"

"I am not!"

"Silly Seto!" Atemu laughed.

"Annoying Atemu!"

"I'm not annoying…Silly."

Seto rolled his yes, refusing to get in an argument with the child. "We still shouldn't have run away. Someone could have seen us; there are spies everywhere you know, especially with the war."

"The war is a 10 day journey from here and besides I made sure to make us appear invisible. You need to stop worrying about minor things, Silly Seto."

"And you need to take things seriously Annoying Atemu. Instead of playing around you should be practicing."

"Why do you care?" Atemu asked, sitting up. "A prince young as yourself won't need me to fight for a long time."

"Because my father gave you to me for a reason and I plan on taking advantage of that reason."

Atemu stared at the brunet and shook his head in disbelief. "Seto…"

"Please just do what you're told," Seto softly commanded as he hung his head. He was ashamed he needed Atemu's help and power.

Atemu nodded his head and his eyes grew dark as the shadows were summoned; summoning the shadows was the easy part, controlling them was much harder. The purple-black mist turned into an enormous hand, which reached out towards the prince.

"Atemu."

The purple-black hand turned towards the river, morphing into a bridge in the process. The prince looked back at Atemu for a brief moment and saw the child was in deep concentration. Seto stood and placed a cautious foot on the bride created by Atemu. Finding the bridge sturdy, Seto began walking across it, satisfied with the child's work. Walking half way across the shadow bridge, Seto turned to look back at Atemu with a huge grin on his face; Atemu's powers were improving.

Suddenly Atemu's concentration broke and the bridge vanished from underneath Seto plunging the prince into the cool water.

"Seto!"

Rushing forward, Atemu jumped into the deep river just as a brunet head surfaced. Atemu swam over to Seto and treaded water next to him.

"Are you okay? I didn't mean for that to happen!"

"It's okay," Seto replied with a sigh. It figured his father would give him such a weak Creature. "Come on we should get back to the palace before someone realizes we're gone."

Atemu silently nodded his head and they began swimming towards the shore.

"I'm really sorry Seto, I'll get it right next time," the Shadow Creature said once they had climbed out of the river.

"Don't worry about it Annoying Atemu," Seto told him as he reattached the leash to the gold collar around Atemu's neck. With a small tug he began leading the child back to the palace. "You're just a kid after all."

"Shut up Silly Seto," Atemu teased with a small grin on his face. He was determined to get it right next time and make the young prince proud.

"Look at this Seto!" Atemu cried as he hopped off the bed and hurried towards Seto with a small rock in his hand. "See! I was bored while you were at dinner and drew a dragon on this rock I found earlier today." Atemu held up the flat, white rock, which was in the shape of a heart, so that Seto could see the dragon the Shadow Creature, drawn on it. "It's my good luck charm now!"

"Umm…okay," Seto lamely replied as he handed Atemu the food he had stolen that night.

Grabbing the cloth, which was wrapped around the food, Atemu hurried back to the bed with his prize. "Yum…thanks Seto!"

"You know if you'd just go eat with the other slaves you wouldn't be so hungry all the time."

"I'm not like them," Atemu grumbled in between bites of bread as Seto walked over and sat next to him.

"I'm just saying you'd be less hungry if you ate with them." As Seto spoke he fingered the heart shaped rock that was lying on the bed next to the Shadow Creature. "This is pretty cool."

Atemu had used some blue paint, which he either found in the room or stole from elsewhere while Seto had been eating, and drew an outline of a fierce dragon on the creamy white stone. "Why a dragon?"

"Because I rule over all the dragons!"

"But I rule over you so shouldn't this item belong to me?" Seto's thumb ran over the dragon; the rock was much nicer than he originally thought.

Atemu paused in mid chew, staring at the brunet prince. "It's mine!" he finally declared, snatching back his treasure.

"Give it to me!"

"No!"

Seto lunged at the child, landing on top of the Shadow Creature as Atemu's back fell against the bed. Frantically the young prince tried to grab the stone. "Give it back! I own you, so I own it!"

The shadows began forming around them as Atemu's eyes grew dark but Seto paid no attention to what was happening in the room.

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's the only thing I own!"

Seto stopped struggling, climbed off Atemu and kneeled next to where the Shadow Creature laid. "What?"

"It's the only thing I own," Atemu replied as he sat up and crossed his legs; the shadows remained but they were merely lingering around the floor. The Shadow Creature hung his head in shame as he continued to talk. "We both know that I'm a slave even though I hate that word. This dumb rock is the only thing I'll ever own in my life."

"Atemu…"

A tear fell down the child's cheek. "If you want it, you can have it. I'm required to serve you and follow any command you give me."

The rock lay in Atemu's palm as he held his hand towards the young prince. Staring at the rock, Seto wrapped Atemu's finger around the stone. "Keep it."

A huge smile broke out across Atemu's face. "Thank you Seto!" he cried, wrapping his arms around Seto's neck. "I'll never forget this!"

"Don't worry about it." Cautiously, Seto hugged the Shadow Creature back.

By the end of the second week, Seto was allowing Atemu off the leash more and more, taking the risks. They would go far down the river where Atemu was allowed to run free for a bit before he began his practice.

For days they did this without incident. Then one night, when they were returning to Seto's room right before sunset, they were greeted by Gozaburo, who was standing in the middle of the young prince's room.

"You little brat!" he snarled, grabbing Seto's brunet hair and yanking it. "You think I don't know what you've been up to? The sneaking of food, allowing your pet off leash!" With one hand, Seto was thrown against the wall where he crumbled to the floor.

"My pathetic, weak son," he spat as he swiftly kicked his son in the ribs.

"Leave him alone!" Atemu screamed, the shadows filling the room.

"Stupid child," Gozaburo hollered. "Some gift from the Gods you turned out to be! They said you would vanquish all enemies if I gave you to that pathetic thing lying on the floor."

From the corner, out crept another of Gozaburo's creations, a two-headed bull. The bull shook its two heads, snorted and pawed at the ground with one of his front hooves.

"I'm not weak!" Atemu yelled. Ignoring the two-headed bull he rushed forward towards Gozaburo, sank to the ground and bit Seto's father on the leg to make him stop kicking the brunet.

"Atemu watch out," Seto managed to gasp as he raised himself up on his hands and knees.

Easily Gozaburo kicked Atemu away; the Shadow Creature tumbled across the floor, stopping a few feet away from the bull. Dazed, Atemu could no longer keep the shadows in the room and they began to fade away.

"Weak like my son!"

"Leave him alone," Seto commanded as he staggered to his feet. His left arm was wrapped around his body, trying to ease his aching ribs.

A heavy hand shot out from Gozaburo, smacking Seto across the face. The young prince tasted blood in his mouth from where he accidentally bit down on his tongue when his father hit him.

"Shut up boy!"

The shadows returned but this time being summoned by the bull that loyally served the ruler of the land. A wave of purple-black mist hit Seto in the chest knocking him to the ground again.

"Stop it!" Atemu yelled from where he was struggling to stand. The shadow wave turned towards the child, whose eyes suddenly turned dark. A wall of shadows sprung forward, blocking the blow, but the two-headed bull was a much stronger Shadow Creature than the winged child and it wasn't long before the shadow wall shattered in pieces.

"Pathetic brat," Gozaburo taunted as he lifted Seto up by the front of royal robes and smashed the back of his son's head against the wall.

The last thing Seto remember before falling unconscious was Atemu crying out his name.

Atemu sniffed and wiped at his eyes before tears could fall down his cheeks. Standing next to Seto's bed he stared down at the bruised, unconscious form of his Master.

After Seto had blacked out, the other Shadow Creature had hit the child a few more times before both Gozaburo and the two-headed bull decided to leave. It was then that Atemu had struggled to get Seto's beaten body to the bed and tend to the prince's wounds as best he could.

"I'm sorry Seto," he finally whispered. "I tried to protect you but I couldn't."

In his hands, Atemu toyed with his special stone before placing it down on the bed next to Seto.

"I promise, I'll become the strongest Shadow Creature that ever existed. I'll never fail you again."

Atemu's eyes grew dark as the shadows completely surrounded him. When the purple black mist faded from the room, Atemu was gone.