Mew: Hello again! Yay! It's a chapter story and not just a oneshot! My first ever, too!
Draiku: Are you an idiot? Just shut up and get on with the story!
Yoko: That's not very nice, Draiku.
Draiku: -pouts-
Mew: Oh, and thanks to everyone who reviewed on the last chapter! –cheers to them- I'm sorry if I couldn't reply to them, I got grounded just because I tried bonsai on one of my dad's plants. Long story. You don't want to hear it.
Yoko: Time for the disclaimer. What fun.
Disclaimer: Mew, Draiku, and Yoko do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its characters. If they did, it would be rated 'R' and would be much, much yaoi-er.
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The Prince of Thieves and the Slave
Chapter 2: An Unexpected Visitor
Malik was awoken by the sounds of a hawk screeching inside his cave. He grumbled, guessing that it had followed its prey here, and sat up in the bed. He quickly pulled on his linens and his robe, wondering if he should shoo the bird away or use it for meat.
He found the intruding hawk and eyed it thoughtfully. It landed every once in a while, but when it did, it landed lopsided. Then Malik saw that it was missing one claw on its left foot. Another thing odd about it was that there was a small necklace around its neck, which looked like gold. The necklace had a small pendant that was an Egyptian letter "M".
Malik suddenly grinned. He held out his arm and the hawk jumped on it, its talons not piercing his skin thanks to the thick material he was clad in. He hurried out to the entrance of the cave, and uttered a single word when he saw what he had expected.
"Marik!"
In front of him, wearing stolen foreign clothing and a red bandanna across his forehead, stood his spiky-haired brother with a smirk on his face. He did not wear a robe, but pants, which were apparently popular in the north. His vest was green, and showed off his chest and muscular abdomen. Marik most likely didn't want to button it up. He wore no shoes, though around his ankles were golden rings and bands, each seemed to be a larger copy of the ones on his wrists. He wore one earring of feathers on his left ear, and a necklace with a golden leopard claw on it. The hawk flew from Malik's arm to his shoulder, which was protected with leather pads.
"Greetings, younger brother. I hope that everything has been great for you," he said, pulling Malik into a warm hug. Malik grinned and hugged him back.
"You, too." They pulled away, Marik keeping Malik an arm's length from his body.
"You've grown quite a bit since I last saw you. Eating well, I hope?" he said.
"Yup. With that last downpour a few weeks ago, the crops have been quite plentiful. And of course, that means that I can steal as much as I like," he said with a smirk. Marik chuckled. "How have you been? Did you ride long?" He asked, seeing Marik's black horse standing in the shade of the cave.
"I've been great. There have been more traveling merchants than ever, and my band of bandits has just gotten better. Not bigger, but better. And, no, I didn't ride here at all," he said, then his grin faded to a frown.
"What's wrong?" Malik asked. Marik led him over to his horse, and Malik saw that it had a huge infected wound on its thigh. "How'd that happen?" Malik wondered to himself.
"While I was circling a cart filled with golden merchandise, the owner of it fought back. He threw a spear at me, but it went too low and hit my horse instead. I barely know anything of first aid for animals, neither do any of my men, so I was wondering if you would," he explained.
"I see. Who's in charge of your band at the moment, while you're gone?" Malik asked.
"Believe it or not, but Bakura the King of Thieves is. He came to us injured, so since we treated his wound he offered to look after the men while I was gone. He can't walk or anything at the moment, so he won't be able to steal anything," Marik said.
"Why him?" Malik asked.
"I trust him a lot, more than some of my men, even."
"Oh, I see," Malik said, glaring very slightly. Marik noticed this.
"You okay?" he asked. Malik nodded.
"Yes, I'm fine, but did you know that Bakura's brother is here?" he asked. Marik blinked.
"Seriously? Bakura was talking about him. He seemed…actually, he was quite worried about Ryou. He ranted about something like being 'so cruel' and 'not deserving of him'," he said. "Does he look like Bakura, of any chance?" Malik nodded.
"Yeah, with longer hair, although. Anyway, let's see to your horse." They walked over to the animal, Marik stroking its snout as if to calm it. The horse looked at Malik warily when the boy examined the wound on its leg, but was otherwise still. "Well, it's not very deep, which is good, but since it's infected it will take longer to heal."
"About how long?" Malik shrugged.
"I'd say about three weeks or so. Four weeks at the most, three at the least. I'll see what I can do." He and Marik led the horse into the cave and Malik got out a bowl of paste. He first used a dagger to remove the infected flesh, then he smeared the sticky concoction over it. He then rubbed another mixture onto the wound and bandaged it up.
"He shouldn't run, and we'll have to keep him tied up, so we can examine the wound closely," Malik said. "You're welcome to stay until his leg's healed."
"Thank you, I'd appreciate that. I'll have to send a message to my men to let them know that I'll be gone longer than expected." He got some papyrus out of the pack on his thigh and painted a short message on it. Using a string, he tied the scroll to his hawk's leg and told it to go to the clan. The hawk took wing and flew into the distance, becoming a mere speck after just a few minutes.
"You trained him to understand you?" Malik asked. Marik nodded.
"Only a few words. His job is only to send and bring back messages. Thankfully, he trusts all of the men, so no matter who sends the message he'll listen."
"Wow." Marik tied his horse to an upright rock in the cave and put a bowl of water in front of it. The steed slurped up the liquid gratefully.
The two brothers had a short breakfast while they waited for Ryou to awake. They chatted about various things, such as the weather (this topic was quickly dropped because the weather hadn't changed much), big "hits", and their family.
"How do you think Rishid is doing?" Marik brought up. Malik shrugged.
"I'm sure that he's fine. Scribes are paid well, after all," he said.
"Ooh, that reminds me. Isis is one of the most respected people in all of Egypt. She just recently became a priestess on the pharaoh's court. She even got one of those Millennium Items. I believe that it was the necklace," Marik said, smiling.
"Seriously? How do you know?" Malik asked. Marik chuckled quietly.
"Just a week ago I was raiding carts. My band and I were attacking one when suddenly, Isis stepped out of the cart and greeted me. Apparently she had seen us coming with the necklace, and wasn't worried at all. I called off the attack, of course."
"Amazing. So she can really tell the future now?" Marik laughed, thinking of Isis' previous job as a fortune teller. He nodded.
"Yeah. How else would she have seen my men and I coming? We were perfectly hidden, so she wouldn't have seen us from afar." The two laughed, each remembering the incident in which they told her that her so-called fortune telling would never get her anywhere.
"Of course, this probably means that, since I'm the Prince of Thieves, they won't let me near her," Malik said with a grin.
"Oh, yeah, you have a system similar to ours. Is it possible to jump from the Prince to the Lord?" Marik asked.
"I think that, as long as you steal the seven Millennium Items and take the throne, then you become the Lord of Thieves no matter what level you're already at. I think that the only level that isn't allowed to do that is Beggar, which is the first, by the way." Marik nodded.
"First level for bandits is Tramp. The next one would be Beginner, then Amateur, Master, and Assistant. The next ones, which are Advisor (which usually works with the Prince of Bandits or the King), Prince, King, and God, have only one person per position. So far no one's made it to the top level of God."
"What do you have to do to become the God of Bandits?" Malik asked.
"You need to steal from ten-thousand carts, and then you need to get at least one of the Millennium Items. If I had attacked Isis and stole her necklace, I'd be the God of Bandits, actually," Marik said with a shrug.
"But you didn't because she's your sister, I hope, and not because you wanted a cooler Millennium Item," Malik said. Marik laughed.
"Yes, but I believe that the Millennium Rod is the best. There've been rumors that you can control minds with it," he said with a grin.
"I believe you. Those golden things can do anything. I'd better check up on Ryou. He's been asleep for a while now." Malik stood and went to his room to see Ryou sound asleep on the bed. Even he had to admit that, though he was a boy, Ryou looked cute while he slept.
Malik smiled and watched the boy sleep with acute interest. Ryou made a slight moaning noise and turned over in his sleep, facing Malik.
Malik blinked, realizing that Ryou was almost awake. The pale boy opened his chocolate-brown eyes lazily, gazing at Malik through half-opened eyes.
"G'morning, Malik," he slurred sleepily.
"Actually, it's 'good afternoon'. You slept past the sun's zenith," Malik said with a slight chuckle.
"Oh. Sorry," Ryou said apologetically.
"It's alright. You must be exhausted, anyway," he said.
"Yeah, kind of. What's going on?" Ryou asked.
"My brother's here. He'll be staying here for a while his horse's leg heals," Malik replied.
"Okay," Ryou said and sat up in the bed. He yawned and stretched. "I haven't gotten a good sleep for years," he muttered.
"How long have you been a slave, anyway?" Malik wondered.
"Six years," Ryou said softly. "I'm sixteen now, so I became one when I was ten."
"Really? I thought that you were younger. I'm sixteen, also," Malik said. "Anyway, would you like to meet my brother? He's just outside." Ryou nodded.
"Sure, why not?" Malik gave Ryou some clothing to wear, which were a pure white robe from a foreign land, a long shirt to go under it, a white kilt, and a pair of sandals. Ryou thanked the thief and followed him out to the King of Bandits.
Ryou blinked when he saw Marik. He thought that the man was dressed up quite strangely, for a person of Egypt. He looked totally foreign, especially his hair.
"Ah, so this is the infamous Bakura's brother? I knew that they'd look alike!" Marik said and greeted Ryou with a bow. "Marik, King of Bandits, at your service." Ryou bowed back.
"It's a pleasure and an honor to meet you, Marik," he said, smiling.
"Bakura's told me about you, lots, I might add," Marik said, straightening up.
"You know my brother?" Ryou asked, blinking. Marik nodded.
"Yes, he's been staying with my band and I for the last few days. He was injured when we met him. He also requested that, if I would run into you, that I apologize for him. He says that he's sorry, and that he wishes that he would've freed you the first chance he got," he said. Ryou gasped.
"He—he did?" he stuttered.
"Yeah."
"C-could you tell him that I forgive him? And that I hope to see him again some day?" he asked.
"Of course. I'll do that first thing when I return to my band," Marik replied.
"Thank you," Ryou murmured, wiping a stray tear from his eye with the back of his hand.
"Is anyone hungry? It's almost time for lunch," Malik suggested.
"Sure," Marik and Ryou said.
Malik got out the jug of beer, two loaves of bread, some dried, leftover meat from the antelope he had with Ryou the day before, and some dates. He walked over to a cage and blinked, suddenly grinning.
"Yes!" he hissed. He opened the cage and took out the duck that resided in it carefully, stroking its feathers so it wouldn't scratch him. He tied a small piece of string to its foot and then tied it to a bar on the cage. Inside, tucked in a soft piece of cloth, were three eggs. He carefully took them out, then put the duck back inside.
Malik carried the items in a basket to where Marik and Ryou were sitting, chatting softly.
"That duck I captured finally laid eggs. So we'll have those today," he said with a grin.
"Haven't had those in a while," Marik said. "I've been too busy with my band to capture a duck or something."
"I haven't ever had eggs. No one in Kul Elna owned a duck, and my old master only gave me bread and water," Ryou said.
"Well, you'd better like these, because that duck rarely lays eggs," Malik said. He took out a clay pan and a few plates.
"Thanks," Marik said, taking a handful of dates from the basket and putting them on his plate. Malik also set goblets in front of each of them and poured some beer into each.
As they were eating, Marik suddenly got an idea. He held up his goblet.
"I propose a toast," he said.
"Oh, really?" Malik said, knowing that Marik's toasts were usually a little stupid.
"To what?" Ryou asked. Marik paused.
"To…um…something. I dunno. I just wanted to say that because I haven't said it in so long," Marik said dumbly.
"Well…then let's make up something to toast to," Malik suggested with a snicker.
"The gods?" Ryou suggested.
"Nah, we pray to them enough," Marik said.
"Then how about food?" Malik said.
"No, it's important, but not all food tastes good, you know?" Marik explained.
"I know!" Ryou said.
"What is it?" Malik and Marik asked at the same time.
"I propose a toast to…freedom. If it weren't for freedom, we wouldn't be here at the moment. To freedom?" They clinked their goblets together.
"To freedom!"
TBC
Mew: What a strange way to end a chapter. Oh well, it kind of makes sense.
Draiku: Unlike you.
Yoko: Please R&R! Mew needs suggestions for the next chapter, kind of badly.