Juni: Ta da. We managed to update.
KT: Thanks to Pharaoh Atemu's Angel, ladywolfTerri, xamosy, LilAznSp0nge, Shire, Yana5, harleydbabe222, pyromaniacgrl, and Unfortunately Freckled for the reviews. It's really appreciated. I decided to update real quick before we leave. The plane is actually leaving tonight! I'm excited.
Taku: As a reward for your being so nice as to review, here's another chapter from Maruka.
3: The Slayer
Yugi awoke in the clearing for the second time. He groaned and slowly sat up. His neck hurt where it met his shoulder on his left side, and he massaged it, wincing at the pain.
I guess I didn't die after all, Yugi thought. His mind drifted back to the last few moments before he passed out and he shuddered. That had been so frightening. Yami had bitten him, and would no doubt bite him again the next time he got thirsty. Yugi drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, trying to get his mind off of those horrible events. The last thing I need to think about is something like that when it's most likely going to happen again.
Yugi looked upwards. The sky was a warm orange color. It must be morning. Yugi wished he was on the outside of this terrible forest. Better yet, he wished he had never accepted Joey's dare. Then he wouldn't be in this position. If only we'd played something else, Yugi thought, feeling tears well up. Then I'd still be living a normal, happy life, not giving a care about the legend of the Forbidden Forest. He felt the tears break and slide down his cheeks. I wish I could get out of here.
The alternative is death, Yami's voice came back to mind. Yugi hid his face in his arms, sadly wishing that for once he had backed down from a challenge.
"Yugi."
Yugi tensed when he heard his name being called. Reluctantly, he looked up and saw Yami, standing at the edge of the clearing, safely out of the way of the sunlight.
"Come here," Yami said.
Yugi shrank back. Maybe if I stay in this clearing, he won't be able to get to me, he thought, wanting some thread of hope to be able to cling to.
"You heard me."
Slowly, Yugi's head started to shake. He clutched his knees tighter and refused to move.
"Don't make me come get you."
Yugi stayed where he was.
Yami's glowing eyes darkened, and he stepped closer to a tree. He placed one hand on the side, and a section of the tree about two feet from the ground was suddenly surrounded by darkness and disintegrated. The tree, now missing some of itself, succumbed to gravity and fell forward.
Yugi felt his breath catch. It would fall on top of him. He uncurled out of his ball and dived away, the tree striking the spot he had been in moments before and landing with a loud thud. Yugi sat where he had landed, heart thumping, breathing heavily. He looked down and realized he had jumped out of the circle of sunlight. Hearing a step behind himself, Yugi jumped to his feet and whirled.
Yami was behind him.
Silence passed between them. Yugi's heart managed to calm down, and his breathing became regular again.
The alternative is death.
Yugi shivered. Yami didn't seem to extend a lot of patience.
"Next time I tell you to come here, I expect you to come," Yami said in a casual voice, as if commenting on the weather. "Am I clear?"
"Y-yes sir," Yugi stammered, looking down at the ground. Yami's eyes were still scary, and, since he could never see Yami through the darkness, seemed disembodied.
"You don't have to call me sir," Yami said, "so long as you do what I tell you to. Now, follow me." He turned and started walking away. Yugi, still looking at the ground, followed him silently.
They walked along in silence for a few moments. Finally, Yami stopped, and Yugi stopped behind him. "This," Yami said, "is the river. As you can see, it branches off into two sections. One you can use as a source for refreshment, and the other you can use to bathe."
Yugi looked up and saw the river. Shaped somewhat like a Y, it was several feet from bank to bank on each section.
"I will leave you to prepare for the new day," Yami stated. He turned and walked off.
Yugi looked down at the water. Thin strips of sunlight managed to push through the thick branches above and shine down on the water, making it partway possible to see. Yugi noticed that Yami had kept his distance from these streams of light.
With a sigh, Yugi got down on his knees and dipped a finger into the river. It was cold, as he had expected, but he was in dire need of some way to freshen up. He cast a glance over his shoulder, as if he could actually see much, and then took off his jacket and shoes. After a second to glance over his shoulder again, he removed the rest of his clothes. He got into the river very quickly after that.
The water was very cold, and it got pretty deep near the middle. Yugi found that the deepest the water got was up to his shoulders, which was deep for a river. He moved closer to the bank and let himself sink down into the water.
This is nice, Yugi thought, moving his feet around underneath the water. His right foot ran into something hard and he nearly tripped. He righted himself and slowly felt around in the water to figure out what it was.
It was a rock. A giant rock in the bottom of the river. It was pushed up against the steep side of the riverbank. He carefully made his way closer to the rock and sat down on it. The water came up to his neck now. Makes a nice seat, Yugi thought with a smile. It quickly faded, however, when he realized he had nothing to be happy about. I'm stuck being the servant and source of food for a vampire, and I'm smiling over rocks in the river. I must be crazy.
A few minutes later, Yugi climbed out of the river and dried himself off as best he could with his jacket. He put the rest of his clothes back on, including his shoes, and draped his now wet jacket over his arm. I wonder if he has any towels? Yugi thought. He rolled his eyes at the stupidity of the remark.
Looking around, Yugi sighed. He had finished with the "bath" now; what was he to do? Go find Yami and ask for a chore? He glanced to his left. The better idea would be to find a way out of this forest and back home. But he had no idea how deep he was in the forest, or which way would get him out and home. Besides, Yami would be sure to catch him before he could make but so much progress, and who knows what would happen then?
Yugi sighed and sat down on a tree stump. "I'm just screwed all around," he admitted to himself sadly. He hung his jacket on a low branch near him and rubbed his eyes.
"You must be Yugi Moto."
Yugi jumped and stood to his feet, startled. He whirled around to find out who was talking to him.
"Relax. I'm not another vampire."
"Who are you then?" Yugi asked, still looking around.
A dim flashlight came on. Yugi was nearly blinded by the light, however. He squinted and held up a hand to shield his eyes. "I'm your savior, kid," the voice replied.
"How do I know that?" Yugi countered, slowly getting his eyes adjusted to the light. "Let me see you."
The beam of light turned backwards to shine on a face. Ice blue eyes stared at him from underneath brown bangs. The guy had a practiced scowl on his face.
"I'm Seto Kaiba," the guy said. "And you're Yugi Moto, correct?"
Yugi nodded. "Yeah, that's me," he said, lowering his hand. "Why are you here?" he asked.
"To destroy the vampire that lives here."
Yugi's eyes widened. "You mean, Yami?"
"Yami?" Seto's eyes narrowed. Then he smirked. "So, I finally caught up to my old enemy. What luck. Tell me where he is."
"I don't know," Yugi answered truthfully. "He just left me here. How did you know who I was, anyway?"
"Domino Town is in an uproar about your disappearance," Seto explained. "They've wanted to send search parties, but everyone's afraid of this forest and its legend. They all believe you were kidnapped by a vampire. And they would be right." His smirk returned. "I happen to be one of the best vampire slayers in the business, and I came across this place by accident. However, I'm glad I did come, for Yami and I go back a long way. I'll finally get the chance to destroy him once and for all. And you, Yugi, are going to help me do that."
Yugi took a step back. "Me?" he repeated. "What can I do? I told you I don't know where he is."
"But he knows where you are," Seto answered. "And he'll most likely come back to get you. I see his mark on your neck. You've already fallen victim to one of his feeding sessions. The fact that you're still alive means he wants to use you again for that same purpose." He took a step forward. "You two look a lot alike, by the way."
"Yes, I know," a third voice suddenly spoke from above. "That was one of the reasons I decided to keep him."
Yugi heard something land behind him, and before he could turn to see who or what it was, he felt an arm circle around his waist. The ground suddenly fell away under his feet, and wind blew down on him. It took him a moment to realize that Yami had grabbed him and was now taking him up into the air, away from Seto Kaiba. He felt his feet land on a branch as easily as though he had done it himself.
Seto shone the flashlight up into the tree, and Yugi took the opportunity to look up and see Yami. He suppressed a gasp when he realized that both Seto and Yami were right. Except for the glowing red eyes, pale skin, and visible fangs, Yami looked like an older version of Yugi. His gaze was currently fixed on Seto Kaiba, and both were wearing smirks.
"Well, if it isn't my old friend Seto Kaiba," Yami said. "I hadn't thought I'd see you again for a long time. Our encounter in Egypt seemed to have knocked you down for the count."
"You know I bounce right back," Seto replied, still shining light up into the tree. "I hope you know what chaos you've caused in Domino Town by kidnapping this boy."
"Mmmm, chaos. One of my favorite words," Yami sneered. "I'm afraid I won't be giving him back, though. He belongs to me now, and I like him too much."
Seto snorted. "Isn't that sweet," he said contemptuously. "I've known you for a while, Yami, and you've only had two pets since. This would be your third?"
Yami's eyelids dropped halfway. "So what the hell if it is?" he retorted. "Do you want him?"
"I don't give a rat's ass about him," Seto answered. "I just want to kill you." He pulled something shiny from the satchel over his shoulder and cocked it.
Listening to the conversation, Yugi felt sick. This Seto Kaiba guy sounded as inhuman as Yami. The only problem now was to figure out which was the greater of two evils. Yugi saw the gun pointed at them both and shuddered involuntarily. He noticed then that Yami's arm was still around his waist.
"Are you ready for another game, leech?" Seto asked.
"I'm always ready, asshole," Yami shot back.
Seto smirked. "We'll see." He fired the gun. Yugi only saw the flash of light. He felt Yami's arm tighten around his waist, and suddenly they were in mid-air again. Yugi was nearly sick from the feeling of flying through the air, and he clutched Yami's jacket. His neck started to throb again.
Yugi heard the sound of more gunshots as Yami kept leaping from branch to branch on different trees, traveling rather quickly to Yugi's tastes. He kept a firm grip on Yami's jacket, feeling that plummeting to his death, and smacking several branches on the way down, was less favorable than having to be this close to a vampire. But something told him that wasn't the only reason he was holding on so tightly to something Yami was wearing.
Hello, let's focus here! Yugi reminded himself. His legs were swinging free in the wind as Yami continued to travel. Fortunately, his were shorter than the vampire's, so they weren't hitting much.
Yugi heard a gunshot close by and flinched. He peeked over Yami's shoulder and was shocked to see that Seto was leaping along in the trees with them, with almost the same grace and capability as Yami. How does he do that? Yugi wondered.
Seto fired again. Directly in front of them, a large branch broke and fell, leaving a rather good-sized hole for the sun to shine through. Yami hissed and suddenly dived down, trying to avoid the sunlight. He grabbed a branch only a few feet away from the ground and used it to slow his descent. He dropped to the ground and started running, giving the pillar of sunlight a wide berth.
Yugi looked up ahead and saw that they were headed for the little clearing. Before he could ask why, Yami released his waist and let him drop. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Yami shoved him into the clearing. The sun had come up, and it was shining brightly. Yugi stumbled but kept himself from falling and turned to Yami.
"Stay there," Yami ordered. "Don't leave this clearing until I come back." He turned and took off into the forest.
Standing where he was, Yugi watched Yami's form quickly vanish into the darkness. A moment later, Seto landed where Yami had been and turned to face Yugi. He smirked. "I see Yami remembers my tactics well. You're lucky it's so late in the day, kid, and that's all I'll say." He turned and darted off in the direction that Yami had gone.
Yugi watched him go. What did that mean? Was he planning to do something to him? And if so, and Yami knew, had Yami been protecting him somehow? Yugi scratched his head, confused. But he stayed in the clearing.
Taku: Well, the chapter is done and doner.
KT: It couldn't have been funner. But anyway, I found a floppy disk under my bed and copied all my already written chapters in it. So, I will be able to update in Hawaii. But it'll probably be a week before you hear from me, only because I want to enjoy the sights before I get back to business. And when I get back, I'm starting another story. It'll be fun.
Juni: She's taking us. (grin)
Taku: (is wearing shirt with 'I Luv Hawaii' on it) I must pack.
KT: You aren't packed? (sweatdrop) The plane's leaving tonight, dummy.
Pharaoh Atemu's Angel-Yeah, so do I, poor Yugi is right. I plan to have much fun, thanks.
ladywolfTerri-Somehow I get pleasure from scaring Yugi...hmm. I hope to have fun in Hawaii as well, and I promise I'll do my best to update for you guys.
xamosy-Glad you like it. I hope you won't have to stretch your patience too far (but you know how life makes you forget stuff)
LilAznSp0nge-Cute penname. Yugi...torture...they aren't supposed to mix. But it's fun to read, isn't it?
Shire-(grins) Why, thank you. I appreciate your compliments.
Yana5-I'm glad you like the story. Can't tell you what happens to poor Yugi, though. You'll have to keep reading to find out.
harleydbabe222-Glad you like it. I aim to please, of course.
pyromaniacgrl-I'm very glad the suspense is good enough for you. That was my goal, after all. Even though an evil Yami isn't the greatest thing in the world, it makes him hotter. Yeah, I'm kinda nuts over the guy. Thanks for the compliments.
Unfortunately Freckled-That is a really inventive penname. I have a few freckles myself over my nose, but they're hard to see. Anyway, thank you for the awesome compliments. Good Yami/Yugi is unfortunately hard to find, so I'm glad you like mine. Well, I don't want to deprive you, so I'll do what I can for updates.
