Incase some of you have been wandering about Rae's name I just wanted to get this straight. "Rae" is pronounced "Ray" (Like in "ray gun").
Just thought I'd let ya' know!
The wind was knocked out of Joey when the flint hard hoof struck at his chest. It wasn't until he hit the ground that a sharp, searing pain shot into his chest. He gasped inhaling dust and saliva. It hurt so bad he could barely breath. It felt as if a weight lifter had swung a metal baseball bat at his heart. He saw the black stallion standing above him, his black eyes glaring menacingly at him. For a moment Joey was certain that it was the end, the horse would kill him. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth ready for his hooves to collide with his skull.
"No!" Yugi cried and using his entire body weight, he lept and slammed hard into Seto's shoulder. Seto gave a startled grunt and fiercly lept backwards, stepping directly on Rae's foot with his back foot. Jeff had grabbed Seto's lead rope and violently jerked it around. Seto's neck was twisted painfully, forcing him to turn around. He stopped fighting. It was over now, everything was settled. Seto looked at Joey angrily, he showed the whites of his eyes, which were blood shot from sleepless nights. His body felt shakey and weak, he had pushed himself to hard, and the lack of food for the past days, was taking it's toll on Seto's exhausted body. He lowered his head. Saliva had foamed around his mouth and sweat covered his neck and legs. He had been longing to do some pay back like that for a long time, Joey Wheeler deserved it.
"Joey! Are you all right?" asked Rae, kneeling down. The blonde boy seemed okay, luckily he didn't recieve a head injury. Rebekka sighed with relief.
"I'm fine." He said. Joey tried to sit up, his chest seared with pain. Slowly he got to his feet.
"It's going to leave a bruise for a while." Rae said. "But your a guy, you'll get over it, right?" she smiled at him. Joey nodded and dusted off the red dirt off his white shirt.
"Your going to have to learn to control that thing." Joey laughed. "Next time, I probably won't be so lucky." Rae's was so guilty she felt as if someone had stabbed her in the gut. She shivered thinking about the catastrophy that would have gotten Joseph seriosly injured if Jeffery and Yugi had not been there.
"I'm sooo SORRY!" Rae said. "I guess he wasn't ready to, you know, meet other people. He's not even accustomed to seeing me...," Maybe Mom and Dad were right, maybe I'm not ready for a wild horse like I thought I was.
"It's okay, Rae. I'm fine, it doesn't hurt anymore!" Joey lied. His mouth was saying "It doesn't hurt." But his mind was saying "OH GOD IT HURTS LIKE CRAP!"
"Jee, Joey, you must have a chest of steel. Man if I got hit with a horse's hoof I would still be on the ground." Rae said with false admiration. She could see the agony sketched across Joey's face. He was a funny guy, trying to act like nothing bothered him. She kinda liked Joey Wheeler despite the fact that he was a moran. Joey grinned weakly, he was gritting his teeth trying to ignore the pain.
"Are you going to be able to ride back home Jo?" asked Yugi.
"Sure...," Joey swallowed. Oh man, I'm going to be sore tommorow.
Idiot. Seto snorted. He's being a complete idiot. If it weren't for Yugi interfering and that weird kid, I would've killed him!
"I'm sorry to say this, Your Majesty, but you are a very stupid horse," said Jefferey. Seto bit him on the shoulder. Jeffery ignored him. "It's not my fault you were born that way."
From them on Seto Kaiba hated him. No matter how he tried to so called "connect" with Seto he would still hate him. Hate every bone in his body, every hair on his head, and every breath he took. That was how Seto hated people. And when Seto hated someone it was true deep down hate and nothing could ever change it. He had always been that way and always will, he often claimed. When Seto Kaiba hated someone, he hated that person forever.
"I th-think we've had enough with Zan today...," Rae said. "I'm so sorry guys, I just didn't...,"
"It's okay, Rae!" Joey said. "We aren't mad at all, so don't feel all guilty." Rae sighed, relieved that they hadn't taken it hard. But deep inside she felt numb with shame.
Seto was sent out to the stallion paddock for the rest of the day. He felt sick with anger. He refused to eat or sleep that night. He felt so depressed and weary. Seto lay down in a patch of grass. The stars once again illuminated the indigo heavens. His black coat reflected the glow of the full moon and gave him a mystical apperance. He felt like a wounded animal left to die. He missed home, he missed having thumbs, and he missed Mokuba's loving smile...
There was the sound of leaves rustling. It was faint, but enough to arouse Seto's suspision. The black horse rose to his feet and followed the rustling noise. Seto walked into the farthest section of the paddock where the forest began. In the twilight he saw an old woman dressed in garments made of deerskin she was singing softly in a language that Seto could not identify. It seemed as though she was summoning him. Seto nickered softly. "Ah, Seto! I knew you'd show up!" the old woman said. She had the complexion of an Indian squall woman. Her cheerful voice startled Seto. "Now, now don't get all excited, I know what you're thinking!" She walked up to Seto and grabbed his muzzle. "Oh, my I expected you to be a little more dull looking, but your...gorgeous!" She laughed softly.
"Let go of me!" Seto said and backed away from her grasp. "I'm...I'm...I'm talking? In English?" Seto shook his head.
"I'm afraid so." the woman said.
"That means I can tell Yugi, than I'm me, right?" Seto asked.
"Wrong." the woman said. "You can't tell anyone about this."
"Why?" Seto demanded.
"Because, if they ever found out you were Seto Kaiba, you will be like this forever." said the woman. "I made you this way Seto Kaiba, I put that artifact on your office desk. If you had not been so rude as to throw it outside, than maybe you would have understood it's purpose better. It seems you were fortunate enough to pass the test."
"You mean this is just a test?" asked Seto. "I'm a horse because of that stupid peice of junk?"
"Exactly and you won't be able to change back until you unlock the secret of that 'stupid peice of junk'." said the woman.
"And how can I do that?" Seto asked.
"Oh, simple, a little trip to Egypt." the woman shrugged. "No big deal."
Seto was infuriated. "ARE YOU SAYING I REMAIN IN THIS ASS FORM UNTIL I GET TO THAT STUPID COUNTRY?" he demanded.
"Actually, I thought you always were an ass...," the woman said. "But if you really are that desperate to change back, you need to figure your own way out of this."
"Yeah, right! I bet you know how I can change back, you're just making it harder for me! You're taking advantage of me! Trust me, Woman! The last person that took advantage of me regretted it!" he remembered that mutt Joey, how he hated him." Seto arched his neck, his ears were pinned to his skull. "Change me back now!" He stamped his hoof.
"To tell you the truth, I wouldn't even if I could. So you can forget that, Young Man!...or should I say...Colt?" said the woman, smiling smuggly. Seto gave up, she was not intimidated by him at all. He was just making himself look stupid. He relaxed a little, but his white hot anger had not yet cooled down. He lowered his head, this time his ears were pricked, listening to what she was about to say. So far he was only making a fool of himself. "This is your destiny Seto. If it wasn't then you wouldn't have come here anyway. Just follow along with what that girl is trying to teach you. Trust the path set before you. Then will you see what I mean."
"I still don't get...," Seto said. The woman had already started her journey out of the forest . Seto began to follow her, but stopped in his tracks.
"JUST DO IT!" the woman called and Seto watched her walk away. He tried to call her back but his voice had become a horse's again.
8:30-Back at the Gilliland Ranch...
"I'm sorry you got hurt Joey! Really, I am!" Rae had said for the four-hundreth time that night. She still felt a lingering pang of guilt. "I don't know what's wrong with me, I had no idea...,"
"It's okay!" Joey said calmly. "I'm fine now." He lied again. "It's not like I'm going to die any time now." He laughed. Rae didn't think that was funny, that had scared her more than anything. And the worst part about it was that it would have been all her fault if Zan had...
"Hey, Joey, you said you liked Duel Monsters didn't you?" asked Rae. The change of subject sounded awkward. "Uh...you wanna...,"
"Duel?" Joey asked.
"Um...just for fun! Not anything really serious." said Rae.
"Sure, I haven't dueled since, like, forever!" Joey said. "But I have to warm you, I almost beat Kaiba once!" He laughed and they both got their cards ready. Yugi was about to leave the room ."Hey, Yugi, where are ya' goin'? Wanna watch me take down Rae?" Joey asked. Rae rolled her eyes.
"Nah, that's okay, I'm just going to step outside for a while." Yugi said. Yugi walked outside. The sun was still quite high in the sky. It occured to him that he was in the West and the sun set later than it did in Domino City. He decided to talk to Yami. "I don't know what's wrong with me, Pharoah, is it just because I'm in a different place?" (You all know how Yugi converses with Yami so I'm not going into detail for the simple fact that it is difficult for my 7th Grade vocabulary to describe it in words.)
"Maybe, but I think it's just what's been happening for the past year." said Yami. "You need to just loosen up a bit, you're on a vacation."
"Some relaxing vacation. Weird stuff's been happening over here. Joey was nearly killed by a horse and even Tea's acting strange." Yugi said. "And Joey. All he thinks about is dueling. I wish he could just forget about it."
"That's odd for you to say such a thing like that, Partner." said Yami.
"I just don't feel the same way about dueling anymore. My cards don't have the same connection with my heart as they used to have. Now they're just...just...peices of paper with pictures of monsters on them." said Yugi.
"Hmmm...I think you need to renew that connection in order to fulfill our destiny." said Yami.
"But I...," Yugi said.
Yami stopped him. "Don't worry about tackling this alone, you have your friends and you have me. Remember Partner, we're in this together. Right?"
