Anyway, welcome to a new chappy! Ryoura's gonna do the review responses coz there's only a few of 'em, and because he loves you all.
Ryoura: I love you reviewers! -glomps you all-
Response To Reviews:
pagethereviewer: Thankies for the review! ok, I'll tell her. -Takes a deep breath- BAYLEEF! Do what the reviewer says! Apparently your work is actually good!
Bayleef: SAY WHAT!
Ryoura: I know! Shocking, isn't it!
Chicary: Bad things are gonna happen? Why? how? When! Bayleef I'm a-scared now!
B: Don't look for comfort from me, I'm the one doing it all!
R: oh ya... Hug me anyway! -hus Bayleef and Chicary-
BookDragon: Bayleef's not good with updating as quickly as usual, but thats probably because her parts are longer now. of corse, thats why people don't read as much anymore XD
B: we just can't win, can we Ryoura?
R: Nope, doesn't seem that way. Glad you liked the chappy, and hope you like this one too! -glomps BookDragon- Thankies again for reviewing!
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
"This is talking"
"These are thoughts"
Yugi, Bakura and Ryoura all threw their arms over their faces to protect themselves as their magic struck the ground, throwing up a large explosion of sand all over them. What was strange was the fact the sand didn't land on them at all. Instead, it got caught in a current that had suddenly picked up and spun around all three of them like a tornado.
"Is this supposed to happen?" Ryoura called to Yugi; the wind around them was so strong it was almost deafening. He heard someone yell a reply, but couldn't make it out. He couldn't decide whether it would be better to stay where he was or try and break through the tornado of sand around him. Seeing as he didn't seem in any immediate danger, he decided not to move.
Suddenly there was a large explosion of yellow light and the sand was thrown in all directions, the tornado disappearing instantly. Yugi stood with his arms stretched out beside him, eyes closed as the dim light surrounding him faded away, though once the light disappeared it was difficult to see once again in the dark. He had used his magic to break the tornado and was now standing quite still at the edge of a steep drop.
Ryoura's eyes grew wide when he'd dared to look, his arms dropping to his sides as he walked up behind Yugi and looked down the slope. The tornado had blown away a large amount of sand, covering an area of about six metres by five, but reaching down in an almost completely vertical slope for a very long distance. Yugi sat at the edge of the slope and slipped himself off it, dodging Ryoura's hand when he tried to grab him, and slid down the slope. After about ten metres down he stopped, hitting a solid surface, and collapsed to his knees in surprise.
"Are you nuts!" Ryoura yelled down at him as he stood up, though Ryoura couldn't see Yugi at all in the dark. He only knew he'd stopped because he heard a bang. "Yugi? Are you ok?"
"It's ok, you can come down."
Ryoura shivered at Yugi's voice. It was so calm, in a sort of evil way. He looked at Bakura, who seemed to have been thinking the same thing, but his yami just looked at him and shrugged. Obviously he had no idea how to react to Yugi's new attitude either. Thinking back Ryoura remembered what Bakura had said after Yugi had yelled at him; he was just upset.
"Losing Yujhi must have really hit him hard..." Ryoura thought sadly as Bakura sat at the edge of the hole as Yugi had and slid down. Ryoura followed when he heard Bakura landing, or rather when he heard him cursing aloud when he hit the surface. "That's four fifty to the swear jar when we get home!" Ryoura piped happily through the mind link as he slid down the hole, though he knew Bakura could sense his nervousness.
Glancing back at Bakura and Ryoura, Yugi got up from where he had been kneeling, examining the floor, and raised his hand up. He muttered a short spell and a glowing bow of light appearing in his hand. Much like Bakura's Millennium Sabre, Yugi's Millennium Puzzle could summon one type of magical weapon, and the weapon exclusive to the Puzzle was a bow and arrow. All Millennium Items were the same, save the Millennium Rod, which acted as a weapon on it's own.
Bakura looked at Yugi suspiciously when he summoned his weapon and his hand twitched lightly, as if ready to summon his own weapon. "What are you doing?"
Yugi looked back at Bakura as an arrow formed in his hand which, along with his bow, cast a bright light over the group. "The barrier is more powerful then I thought, I'm using this to break through," he answered simply, stringing his bow and pointing directly at the floor by his feet. "If I use enough magic I should be able to break right through."
"Break it? Break what?" Ryoura blinked as a thought occurred to him, swallowing hard and bracing himself as his gaze slowly lowered to the surface they were standing on. The light from Yugi's weapon was casting a reflection on the surface, and Ryoura gasped when he realised whatever they where standing on was a transparent, glass-like surface, and beyond it was complete darkness; a drop in which Ryoura nor Bakura could see an end. "Yugi wait! Are you crazy? We have no idea how far this thing drops!"
Yugi narrowed his eyes at the ground. "Ryoura, this is the only way in! I'm sorry, but we'll just have to chance it," his voice had changed again, but back to it's original tone. He sounded like himself again, determined but with a hint of desperation to find his hikari, none of the coldness that seemed to take him over every now and again. Pulling on the string of his bow tighter he focused his magic, the light of the arrow growing stronger.
Ryoura bit his lip nervously and looked down at the darkness below him, then at Bakura. "You should probably help..."
Bakura sighed and raised his hand, an emerald green flame erupting in his hand and stretching upward, taking on the form of Bakura's flaming Millennium Sabre. He gripped the hilt tightly, twirled it around so the pointed faced downward, held it firm, then raised his above his head and waited for Yugi to launch his arrow.
Yugi took a deep breath and his posture tensed visibly for a split second, then he released his arrow into the ground. Bakura used this as a signal and stabbed his sword directly into the magical barrier they stood on. Green and golden cracks appeared almost instantly over the surface, spreading quickly in so many directions the light from them was almost blinding. Cracks continued to form until the entire surface glowed.
"Yugi no! It's a false entrance!"
Yugi gasped and looked upwards for the source of the voice, though it echoed in his head, but suddenly the surface exploded, dropping all three downward into complete darkness.
Yugi's heart began to pound so hard in his ears he was deafened by it's rapid beating, drowning out Bakura and Ryoura's yells as they realised what had happened. The tunnel was extremely deep, and as the wind rushed by his face Yugi panicked at ever passing second, waiting for the ground to come.
"Yugi!"
The voice again, sounding over his own heartbeat. He couldn't bring himself to open his eyes, but somehow he felt that, if he did, the voice could not help him. He could hear another beating sound, but not a heartbeat, and the tighter he shut his eyes and tried to focus on the voice that had spoken to him, the louder the sound got. He stretched his arms upward, reaching for something.
A hand grabbed his and for a split second the world stood still. All sounds disappeared, even the sound of his own heart, and the darkness seemed to have lifted, though Yugi still didn't dare to open his eyes. A warm wave of magic radiated from the Millennium Puzzle, and as the world returned to normal and Yugi felt himself once again plummeting towards the ground, he gripped the hand holding his tightly and took hold of all the magic in his Puzzle. He cried out as he released a blindingly powerful amount of magic from the Millennium Puzzle, and to his surprise a blinding light erupted from the Millennium Ring also, the magic forced out by the power of Yugi's Puzzle. It filled the darkness with a golden glow, and suddenly they stopped falling, just two feet from the floor.
But the amount of magic used was far too strong for any of them, and as suddenly as they stopped falling, all three Millennium Item users drifted into unconsciousness. Yugi tried to remain conscious, holding the hand tightly, but he could feel his grip loosening and mind fading. He felt himself being lowered gently to the ground, and then the hand slipped away from him, along with his consciousness.
His feet were pounding, his mind racing so quickly it made him dizzy, but he knew he couldn't stop. Behind him a large, dinosaur-like dragon flew, screeching loudly as it quickly caught up with him. He glanced left and right, but the area he was running offered no shelter or hiding places from the dragon; just the wide, empty Shadow Realm with it's black, red and purple swirling sky.
Yujhi yelped as a fury of white flames shot down at him, just barely missing his feet as it hit the ground behind him. He tried to run faster, but he was so tired he didn't think he could last much longer. The Shadow Realm would never let him rest, this he knew only to well. He was always being attacked in one form or anther, and if he ever found himself alone, he was terrified of the silence and couldn't rest out of paranoia.
Time past unevenly in the Shadow Realm. He could have been there two days or two years and it may not have felt any different. He kept reliving the same day that he lost his battle to Mark over and over again, but sometimes, like now, he found himself running from the match only to be followed by Mark's monsters. Relived ever day, yet it never felt familiar. Every time he was filled with the same identical fear, no matter how many times the exact same thing happened.
Seiyaryu dropped down and knocked Yujhi to the floor, pinning him face-down with one of it's heavy feet, crushing him. Yujhi gasped, but his breath caught in his throat as the monster lowered it's head and opened it's mouth, placing it's open jaws above his head. He struggled in vain to try and escape from the monster, eyes shut tight as tears of fear brimmed in his eyes. "Yugi help!"
He knew his mind-link couldn't break through the Shadow Realm, but it didn't stop him trying. Unfortunately, just like many times before, Yugi didn't appear to save him. The dragon's jaws began to close until he felt it's sharp teeth pressing into his neck, causing him to yell in terror.
Then the creature evaporated, he was standing before Mark with his first three cards in his hands, and the torture began all over again.
Ilia yelped and wrapped her arms tightly around Steve, glaring at the back of his head. "Have you EVER ridden a horse before?"
"Do you guys ever listen to me? No, I haven't!" Steve gripped the reins of the horse tightly, steering it right and left until he was sure he got a little control of the animal. Joe and his horse trotted past Steve and Ilia, grinning at the two. Steve growled and glared at him, "And how the heck did you learn?"
"Ryoura loves horses. He made me go to lessons with him when we were little," Joe turned his horse to face them and smiled. "I thought it was a waste of time, but he loved it! I never thought it would be the perfect way to show you up!"
"The only way..." Steve muttered, smirking when he earned a scowl from his blond friend. Having used the Millennium Necklace to place where Yugi and the others were, they had taken a bus to the city nearest that area (luckily they hadn't been too far away) and left their luggage in a hotel before going to the very same man that Yugi and the others had rented their horses from two days previously.
After receiving the same lecture about not returning the horses on time, they paid the man and said they would be back the next day. Unfortunately, by dawn the next day the man said he had rented one of their horses to a man who offered him more money then they had given him the previous evening, so they were left with only two.
Steve had complained at first, but eventually decided that yelling at the man wasn't going to make another horse appear out of no where, so they'd just have to make do with what they had. So now he was trying desperately to learn how to control the horse properly, and though he was catching on fast, he still made mistakes.
"Come on Steve, we've gotta get moving if we're ever going to catch up to them!" Joe called when Steve looked like he understood what he was doing. kicking his horse hard in the sides, Joe took off as leader of the group and darted into the desert. It was still slightly dark, the sun only just rising, but Ilia had pointed the direction they were to head; south-east. Steve was quick to follow and soon they were making their way across the desert at a very quick pace.
"Hang on guys, we're on our way."
"Hey Yug'? Helloooooo... You gonna wake up or what?"
Yugi's hand twitched slightly and he groaned, his eyes shut tight before he slowly opened them, blinking the haze clear of his vision but not trying to get up. Had he just heard someone call his name? The ground underneath him was littered with something jagged, but he didn't bother turning his head to see what it was. He idly picking up an item and running his fingers over it's odd-shaped surface, continuing to stare blankly at the ceiling. He hadn't come out of his daze yet.
"Yugi?"
A second voice now? Yugi dropped whatever was in his hand and tried to push himself up, though he only succeeded in sitting up on his elbows. It was a few hours after dawn now, but no light came into black area. "Who's there?" he called to the dark, but there was no answer. "Damn it... I can't see a thing!"
"Hey look! Lazy-bones is up!"
"What...?" Yugi whispered in confusion, looking around him in hopes of finding some source of light. He was about to summon some magic to light his way, when something else got his attention. A ball of white light, about the size of a basketball, had floated up out of the ground a few feet away, but though it glowed it lit none of the surrounding area. It floated up in front of Yugi, around him, then stopped beside him, glowing brightly.
Narrowing his eyes so he could keep an eye on the ball of light without hurting his eyes, he recalled when it gave a sudden bright flash, blinding him momentarily. He rubbed his eyes hard to try and rid himself of the spots floating in his vision, but when a laugh sounded he froze.
"Bet ya didn't expect that, huh Yug'?"
Yugi blinked a few times as he looked at the figure that had appeared beside him, thinking it was some sort of effect of the flash. "J-Joey?" Yugi stuttered, staring upwards at the teen beside him.
Joey grinned and gave Yugi and thumbs-up, "That's right!" He looked no older then in the few memories Yugi held of him, and was sporting a familiar blue and white t-shirt, jeans, his usual black runners and wearing a silver dog tag. Joey laughed at Yugi when he saw his expression, staring open-mouthed at his friend from millennia ago. "What's with the face Yug'? Am I really that good looking?" he grinned, striking a pose.
"How...?" Yugi trailed off as another ball of light appeared behind Joey. In another flash, another person appeared; a girl with brown hair and deep blue eyes, wearing an aqua coloured, sleeveless shirt, denim shorts, knee-high socks and blue sandals.
"Don't flatter yourself Joey," the girl grinned when Joey glared at her, then smiled softly at Yugi. "Hi Yugi, long time no see."
"Téa?" Yugi shut his eyes another ball of light floated up and exploded in a bright light, leaving behind the image of another friend, Tristan. "Tristan? What are you all doing here? How are you here?"
"Well that's not very nice, is it?" Joey said, pouting.
Tristan folded his arms, "Aren't you happy to see us Yugi?"
"Yes of coarse I am!" Yugi almost yelled, jumping to his feet with energy he thought he'd lost. He smiled brightly, looking from one friend to the next. "I just can't believe you three are actually here!"
"Three?"
Yugi jumped and spun around.
"You missed one," Yami chuckled lightly when Yugi faced him, pointing at himself. He smiled warmly as Yugi stared at him, taking a few steps forward so he was standing right in front of the shorter boy. Placing a hand on Yugi's shoulder he squeezed it slightly, "We've missed you so much Yugi..."
Yugi looked down at Yami's hand, shocked that he could actually feel the spirits touch. Shouldn't he be going right through them? A sudden thought struck him, "I'm not dead am I!"
Yami laughed at Yugi's outburst and shook his head. "No Yugi, you're perfectly fine."
"Then... this is another dream?" Again, Yami shook his head, "Then... how?"
"Does it really matter?" Joey asked, walking up behind Yugi and catching him in a headlock. "All that matters is we're finally back with our little buddy!"
Yugi laughed as Joey ruffled his hair, trying to pull Joey's arm away from him, though not with much force. "You're right, I don't care!"
Releasing Yugi from his headlock Joey moved to the side to allow Téa to come over and wrap her arms around Yugi's shoulders, hugging him tightly. This caused Yugi to blush lightly, but he laughed and hugged her back. "I've missed you guys..." he whispered, looked around at the group of friends around him.
"We know Yugi..." Yami smiled, and Yugi was sure he saw Yami's eyes shining with tears.
And through this happiness Yugi lost all thought of Yujhi and the peril he must be facing. He forgot about the Bakura's and whether or not they were all right, and he forgot about the grounds he was on; sacred grounds with devious spells and spirits haunting every corner.
The spirits that now took on the shape and personalities of his friends.
To Be Continued
This chappy's a little shorter coz there was suppsoed to be a little part with the Bakura's at the end, but I decided to save that for the next chappy!
Yujhi: My first appearance and I'm suffering? Gee... thanks a lot...
Well sorry, but that's just the way the Shadow Realm works.
Yujhi: According to you...
Aww... I'm sorry! -glomps-
Yujhi: Get off! This is not helping!
Ryoura: Should have thought of that before you decided to speak XD
He's right! Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed that chappy! Please review! -points at review count- it's dropped a little sense the last story -sweatdrops-
Slán slán for now people!
Bay Bay!
Bayleef
Site(without the spaces, of coarse): www .geocities. com/bayleefslibrary
