A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I don't own YGO. Sorry about the wait.
The Elder waited patiently for Seto's decision. It was up to him to decide, hopefully soon, whether he truly wanted to go or stay. Other than that, the Dragons stayed low in the forest, awaiting their master's call or order. Smoke still hung in the air although they couldn't see it; they could smell it and it was horrible because they had keener senses. But at least it wasn't that strong.
Seto silently weighed his options. There was a tug at his heart, pulling him in the direction of the choice of returning. Yet, he did not want to but he couldn't just leave it to its doom when he could do something. Could he? Seto was the type of person, the kind of Knight that always came to someone's rescue be it a peasant or noble. He possessed all those qualities his grandfather had mentioned and he had experienced love and friendship but now it seemed like they were fading away, for revenge and hatred had welled up inside, creating invisible walls. He wanted vengeance, an eye for an eye.
But that was not how a good leader was supposed to act.
Guilt flowed through him but self-justification flowed as well.
In that moment he made a decision.
Sir Ryou sat silently in his cell. The sun was over the western mountains, providing only faint light for the last moments of the day. He anxiously awaited Mokuba, hoping to perhaps talk the boy out of his plan. He seriously doubted they would find the former Knight, no the Dragon Knight, just on the edge of Relor. They would certainly be miles and miles away by now, wouldn't they? He secretly hoped they weren't. 'They were our last hope and we drove them away...' Ryou thought sadly, a heavy sigh escaping him.
The same two guards that had left to eat had long since returned and were playing cards. Once in awhile they would look at him with a sneer and throw nasty comments his way, usually about his failure to remain loyal to the King. Ryou however did not ignore them completely, quickly finding they would say worse things. No, instead he just stared at them with blank chestnut eyes, clearly stating he did not care anymore. He found that when he did this, they would laugh kind of awkwardly and look away, getting back to their playing cards. 'How little they know.' Ryou sighed once more but his ears perked up when he heard the sound of a door opening. 'Can it be...?' He wondered, feeling slight hope rise up within him.
"Um..." Yes it was! Mokuba stuck his head inside the dungeon with fearful eyes that reminded Ryou of a wild animal, just waiting for the presumed enemy to attack. His raven colored hair was surprisingly neat and tied back. He wore different clothes from before. A dusty brown tunic with a beige shirt underneath and dark brown leggings with brown boots. His wardrobe had indeed changed. "Sorry to interrupt but..." His youthful voice trailed off, expecting a backlash of remarks.
"Spit it out, kid! We don't have all day." The first one said. He was rather big boned with a long black moustache. His armor was too small for him. The other was very thin and tall with large owlish eyes. From both of them, emitted an unpleasing smell that caused the child to wrinkle his nose in disgust. "What're you doing down here anyway?" The air reeked of old ale and stale bread.
"I...I was supposed to deliver a message to you two." Mokuba stammered looking tearfully at them. "One of the Knights requires your assistance..." He blinked, having no excuse of why one of the respected Knights would need the help of a low-class guard with even lower principles. "Please..."
The second guard stood up. "Golly-gee!" The tall one exclaimed, showing a toothless grin. "One of the Knights needs our help, Bentley!" He knocked over his chair in the excitement to rush to the aid of the Knight.
However, the first one was not so eager. He raised a bushy eyebrow up and stared at Mokuba with suspicious eyes. "Are you sure? You don't look like a messenger." He drawled, voice leaden with hostility.
Mokuba nodded vigorously. "Uh huh!" He answered in a high-pitched voice. He managed a small innocent smile at the guard.
The guard nodded stiffly. "All right then. We'll have to send another guard to watch this here prisoner." He gestured towards the wide-eyed Ryou. They could not see the reason for his disbelief. The boy was lying. "You stay here and watch 'im." The guard said and left the room with his companion.
Mokuba nodded again slightly dumbfounded to why they would leave a kid to watch a prisoner. Ah well. They didn't look intelligent and they obviously proved it. "Fools." The preteen muttered as the door shut. His smile and pure expression was gone as he raced to the hook where the prison keys hung. Then, after cracking a mischievous grin, he unlocked the door to the prison cell. "Ready to go, sir?" He asked, giving Ryou the proper respect he deserved. "We have to be quick! Another guard is going to come back down here."
"You're clever. Real clever." Ryou observed and smiled at the young boy. "Thank you. And you may call me Ryou." He told him and stretched his arms and legs a bit.
"Okay. Hurry!" Mokuba led the way up the stairs as quietly and quickly as he could without arousing suspicion. He peeked out the door at the top of the stairway. Seeing no one in sight, he opened it completely and dashed down the left hall. "I've got a horse all saddled up, waiting for us! I'll have to ride with you though since I can't ride one." Mokuba explained breathless as they ran.
"You do?" Ryou's eyes widened again. "I didn't know you could saddle up a horse."
"Seto taught me. He was going to teach me how to ride but he left." Mokuba responded with a hint of annoyance. Ryou shamefully remained silent even though he had done nothing wrong. But then, that was it. He hadn't done anything at all to help the Dragon Knight out. Guiltily, he followed Mokuba down towards the stables.
The two males entered and found a gray horse tied to a post, all ready to go. The horse whined softly as Mokuba patted the side of his face. "Er-can you help me up?" Mokuba asked sheepishly. Ryou chuckled and took the boy by the waist and hoisted him up on the horse. After doing so, he got on himself and grabbed the reins. "Head South." Mokuba instructed, hanging onto the horn of the saddle.
Ryou gave a quick command to the horse and off they went.
Yami climbed up onto his horse after relaying the shocking news to the other Knights. "We must go and find her!" He called out.
Joey frowned. "But ain't we supposed to protect the people?" He asked dumbly.
Yami glared at him, fire in his eyes. "We were also given strict orders to protect the Princess and as you can see, we didn't do a very good job of it!" He snapped, irritated by his comrade's ability to be clueless. "Now, we must find the others and search the forests for her. We must act fast! The Delyan army is well on its way, unless the King stopped them."
The blonde Knight nodded and climbed onto the horse but not before a certain thin guard came up to him. "A little boy said you needed our help?" The guard spoke.
Joey laughed. "I need no help of yours! Someone must've lied." He turned away, following after Yami on his horse. "Yah!"
The guard's jaw dropped. "What? What is it?" The other guard came running up to him.
"He...he didn't need our help. That boy tricked us! Curse him!" The tall and gangly guard swore.
"What?!" The other immediately began to fume.
"Oi!" Another guard called to them from the top of the stairs to the castle. "The prisoner is gone!"
"Eat."
Tea glared at the food set before her. No doubt it was old food. They were probably conspiring to poison her somehow because she was the Relorian Princess. But wait-did they know? Her heart leapt as she realized the possibility of death if they found out about her title. Then again, they might kill her anyway.
She, Mai, and Serenity were under heavy guard around a campfire. It was break time but only for a little while. Soon they would begin the last of their long journey to Relor. The Princess had to think of a way to escape but that chance was looking very dim at the moment.
The fire was dying down and the King of Delyan came over, snarling at the flames. "Someone does not know how make a fire properly!" He looked to the small group of soldiers. "You! Brother of the Sorceress! Find some more fire wood now!" He ordered.
Marik stood up shakily. Ishizhu had been right! He grimly replied, "Yes, sire." And headed in the southern direction of the forest. The air was still very warm and not very breathable. When he was sure no one was watching, he untied a lone horse from a tree and carefully led him away. Now was his chance!
Mai watched Marik leave with curiosity and interest. 'What's he doing?' She wondered and it came to her in a flash. 'He's trying to escape!' It was rather odd that one would need a horse to gather firewood. She felt hopeful; perhaps there more potential allies among this army.
The time passed quickly and the King frowned remembering something. "That soldier was supposed to be back by it! He's run away!" He hollered and pulled out his sword instinctively. "When I find him, he's going to be very sorry for-"
No!" Ishizhu jumped to her feet. "Please sire, I beg of you! Let me go find him! He will listen to me and I will make sure he is disciplined by me for his traitorous actions." She spoke with a strong voice and immediately invoked her mind powers on the King, praying that none of the generals or soldiers would notice. In her mind, she chanted something in a strange tongue and watched with fascination as the King's eyes clouded over.
"...Yes...go get him and bring him back." The King nodded and pointed toward a horse. "Go now." He almost whispered.
It was so easy yet so tiring. Ishizhu sighed in relief as she went to untie her horse. Controlling and using her powers required a lot of her energy. She wouldn't be able to do that power for a while. At least not until she regained her strength. That was one her downfalls. Marik was the only one that knew of it.
A/N: Short yes and I'm sorry. The battle finally begins in the next chapter.
