Mew: YAAAAAAY! Chapter three is up! This is such a big accomplishment!
Draiku: -yawn- Not really. I've seen stories with 20 or more chapters.
Mew: Shut up. It's big for me. Anyway, thanks to all the super-mega-ultimate-awesome-incredible-spectacular-wonderful-terrific-superb-remarkable-outstanding-splendid-admireable-delightful-fantastic-astonishing people who reviewed the last chapter! –needs a better thesaurus- There aren't enough words to describe how great those who reviewed are!
Draiku: You're gonna scare them. You sound kind of like a stalker.
Mew: -pause- If I was a stalker, I'd follow their every movements…-continues to rant-
Draiku: Yoko…
Yoko: Oh, alright…
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh does not belong to Mew, Draiku, or I. If we owned it, the show would be on the block list of every parent in the parental control section of the TV.
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The Prince of Thieves and the Slave
Chapter 3: Gambling
Ryou awoke early the next morning, smiling at the feeling of a full belly. He hadn't been this stuffed in years. Happily, he sat up in the bed and stretched, yawning sleepily. He looked to his right and saw Malik, still sleeping on the bed, and on his left was Marik, sleeping on a new bed that Malik had stolen for the occasion.
He stood, stretching again. He decided that it would be okay if he took a bath in the Nile, since the two brothers were asleep. He left the cave and went to the shores of the river, which was only a few hundred paces away. Removing his clothing, he stepped into the water and relaxed in it. He bathed himself, wondering when the last time he had the opportunity to take a bath was.
Malik awoke drowsily. He had stayed awake until late in the night thieving foods and supplies that he'd need, now that he had two more people staying with him at the moment. He looked to Ryou, expecting to see the boy asleep, but instead, the bed was empty. Gasping, he got up and ran through the cave.
"Ryou?" he said loudly. "Ryou?" He hurried to the mouth of the cave. "Ryou!" he yelled. He heard a faint voice and ran towards it. Finally, he came upon Ryou, who was bathing in the Nile River.
"Oh, thank goodness," Malik muttered to himself. "Ryou," he called again. Ryou gasped and flicked around, seeing Malik. He yelped in embarrassment and dived under the water, hiding his body so only his head was peeking out. Malik chuckled at this.
"I-I'm bathing, Malik! Can't I have a little privacy?" Ryou whined.
"Hey, it's not my fault. You were the one who left. Anyway, I'm glad that you're safe. You shouldn't leave without telling me, or leaving a note. You're ex-owner could be searching for you," Malik said logically. Ryou frowned, even more embarrassed.
"I…didn't want to wake you up," he said.
"Then you could've written a note," Malik pointed out.
"I-I don't know how to read, or write," Ryou admitted, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Oh. I see," Malik said. "Well, then, you want me to teach you?" Ryou looked up at him with wide eyes.
"You would?" he asked, dumbfounded. Malik smiled.
"Of course I would. We can start as soon as possible, if you wish," he replied.
"Thank you!" Ryou said happily.
"No problem. You finish up your bath and we'll have breakfast," Malik said, leaving Ryou to bathe.
-
Ryou finally finished bathing. He got dressed and found Marik and Malik looking through some old scrolls.
"Ah, you're finished," Malik said, upon Ryou's arrival. "Marik and I were just looking for a list of letters for you to copy."
"Really? You don't have to do all this for me, honestly," Ryou said, embarrassed.
"Oh, come now, Ryou. It's very handy to know how to read and write your own language. So we're going to teach you until you perfect it," Marik said. "Ah! Found it!" He pulled out a scroll, bound with a piece of string. He unrolled it and looked on the inside. He held it up to Ryou.
"Tell me if you know any of these," Marik said. Ryou stared at each symbol intently. He pointed at one shaped like an owl.
"That one. I think that it means 'M,'" he said.
"Any others?" Malik asked. Ryou shook his head, a bit shamefully. Malik recognized his expression. "Hey, don't worry about it," he said, putting an arm around Ryou's shoulders to comfort him. "I've only known how to read and write for a little over a year. And I had to teach myself. You'll definitely learn faster than me." Ryou smiled slightly.
"Thank you," he murmured.
"Anyway, let's start with the basics. This hawk-shaped one makes a sound like 'ah', this next one means--." Malik was cut off by a gasp of fear from Marik. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I heard something. It sounded like voices," he muttered. "Ryou, stay here while we investigate." Ryou nodded and the two tanned brothers hurried out of the cave. They gasped, and to their surprise, saw a huge ship carrying tons of crazy, barbaric looking people.
"Sea bandits!" Marik exclaimed.
"Oh, gods. You're kidding me," Malik hissed. Marik snarled.
"They're the mortal enemies of all normal bandits. They're absolutely insane, too. They go out to sea because they can't stand living on land. They go where they're not meant to go, steal what they're not meant to steal, kill for no reason. We'll have to confront them. I hear that they can smell your fear," Marik growled. Malik gulped. He was probably reeking with the stench of fear at the moment, he had never encountered a sea bandit once in his life, and from what he heard they would suddenly snap and kill you.
One of the sea bandits atop a tall mast yelled something foreign and pointed at them.
"They see us!" Malik gasped out. The ship landed and they came walking over to the two calmly. Malik began to sweat. His heart beat sped up. He was so afraid that he thought that he'd faint dead away. But he had to act brave, or he might lose his life.
A young one with green eyes and a ponytail was in front of all the men. He seemed to be the leader, despite his age. He had a tattoo under his eye that was a simple blade-shaped arrow, and he wore earrings. Unlike most of the others, he was clean and shaven, and his teeth were white. He wore a red bandana around his forehead that was decorated with black diamonds. He was clad in a blue vest, pants similar to Marik's, and wore large boots. He had many bracelets and a necklace of feathers, and, like Marik, let his chest show. His upper torso had a tattoo of two curved blades arranged in a "X" pattern right in the middle of his chest, right below his neck. There were more tattoos of fearsome symbols, such as an upside-down star in a circle and what looked like an ankh without the loop, except upside-down, like the star.
He spoke in a language that Malik and Marik could not interpret. The sea bandit noticed their confusion and called to one of the men behind him. Marik blinked and muttered to Malik.
"He just asked someone named Honda which country this is. That must be Honda."
The bandit-king pointed at a man with brown eyes and a strange hair cut, which looked like a shark's fin. He wore many golden and silver necklaces, a vest, and pants. He wore no shoes, unlike the leader. Though most of his chest was bandaged, Marik and Malik could tell that he had that same circled upside-down star tattoo as the leader. He wore leather bracelets on his wrists and golden ones on his ankles.
"How did you know what he said?" Malik hissed back to Marik.
"I can understand a few words in various languages. It's handy while you're attacking a foreign cart," Marik whispered with a forced smile.
The sea bandit suddenly bowed.
"Greetings," he said in the Egyptian tongue, "I am Ryuuji Otogi, king of pirates." He looked up at them and grinned, showing off his sharp-looking canines. (Okay…I don't know if pirates were really around back then, but…um…just don't sue me, okay? –blush-)
"You speak our language!" Malik exclaimed. He had expected these men to growl and bark like beasts from what he had heard.
"Of course I do. I have to understand many different languages in order to communicate with the people we capture and use as ransom," he said, standing. "This is Honda, my first mate. Key word; mate." He winked suggestively and Honda blushed wildly. The men behind him laughed heartily. Otogi laughed himself.
"Anyway, who might you two be?"
"Wait," Marik said. "What are pirates?"
"Why, we're pirates! Judging by your appearance, you're a land pirate, not a farmer or whatever," Otogi said.
"I do not go by the term 'land pirate', I go by 'king of bandits', thank you very much," Marik said, sticking out his jaw.
"Ah, I see. A thousand apologies. So, what exactly do bandits do, if you don't mind me asking, you're majesty?" Otogi said.
"Well, bandits attack and steal from traveling carts. And pirates, what do you do?" Marik replied.
"We attack and steal from traveling ships," Otogi said, shrugging. "I don't see why you should be offended that I call you a land pirate. We do the exact same thing, just on different areas of the world."
"Actually, we're quite different. For one thing, bandits are respectable, merciful people. Pirates, from what I've heard, are barbaric, rude, and kill without remorse, then they throw leave the bodies on the enemy ship or whatever and leave them to rot," Marik growled. Otogi looked offended.
"Really? Well, from what I've heard about bandits, you people are disgusting, flea-ridden, cowards!" he countered. Malik decided to step in.
"How about we just say that pirates and bandits are exactly the same, except bandits steal from people on land while pirates go to sea and steal?" he suggested.
"Yes, I agree," Honda said.
"Alright," Otogi and Marik said at the same time. They shook hands.
"I apologize for insulting you, Ryuuji," Marik said.
"And I apologize for offending you, Marik," Otogi replied.
"I accept your apology."
"And I accept yours." Otogi turned to Malik. "So, who are you? We've met this bandit over here already. Are you brothers?"
"Yes," Malik said, nodding once. "My name is Malik, prince of thieves."
"Ah, lucky day! We've met two brothers of royal blood!" Malik blushed, embarrassed from all the attention he was receiving.
"So, why have you stopped here?" Marik asked, looking to Otogi.
"We needed supplies. Herbs, food, fresh water, the usual. Poor Honda was cut in a saber fight with one of the men we were attacking a few nights ago," Otogi said, looking to Honda sympathetically.
"It's only a minor wound, no need to worry about it," Honda insisted.
"Ah, I can treat that. Easy," Malik said with a smile. "If you would like to, I could take you and your men back to my home where you can camp."
"That would be great, Malik," Otogi said. They followed Marik and Malik back to his home. Though it was close, they seemed parched.
"I guess that they're not used to the desert," Marik muttered. Malik nodded in agreement. Soon, they came upon the cave. Ryou was standing at the entrance, looking worried.
"Malik? What took you so long? I thought that you were just going to investigate!" he said, hurrying over.
"Ah…got caught up in conversation, I suppose," Malik said with a shrug. Ryou noticed the tons of men walking towards him and his eyes widened.
"Wh-who are they!" he stuttered nervously.
"Pirates. Don't worry, they're friends," Marik said, gesturing at Marik, who was deeply conversing with Otogi. Otogi looked up and noticed Ryou. He smirked slightly and walked up to him.
"Ah, who is this rare beauty? Your lover, Malik, I suspect? She's quite pretty," he said, bowing to Ryou and taking his hand, kissing it. Ryou gasped and blushed. Malik blushed himself.
"R-Ryuuji, Ryou's a boy," he stuttered. "And he isn't my lover."
"Oh. A thousand apologies, Ryou. Your long hair threw me off," Otogi said, scratching the back of his head nervously. Ryou was still embarrassed, though. Marik thought that this was quite amusing, and he laughed.
"Maybe I should cut my hair?" Ryou whispered to Malik.
"Nah, you'd look strange," Malik whispered back. "Anyway, Honda, come with me so I can heal your wounds." Honda nodded, thanking him. He followed Malik into the cave. Otogi went back to Marik.
"Hey…" Marik said, noticing something in Otogi's hand. "What is that?"
"This?" Otogi said, holding up a wooden cube with black paint on the sides. "I call it a die. Two of them are called dice. It is the ultimate gambling tool." He handed it to Marik and the bandit looked it over.
"I don't see how this could be a tool for gambling," he muttered.
"Well," Otogi said. He pointed at the dots on one side. "On each side of this there are a different number of dots, from one through six. If you roll it, whoever rolls highest or calls the right number that shows on the top wins."
"Oh, I see. Where did you get it?"
"I invented it. My men were tired of gambling with coins and such, so I made this. You can have it, if you like."
"Really? Thanks, Ryuuji," Marik said, looking over the die.
"Wanna gamble, then?" Otogi asked. Marik smirked.
"Who do you think I am?" Marik found a piece of wood in Malik's home and brought it out to use as a flat surface, rather than the sand. He took off one of his golden bracelets and set it on one end of the wood, while Otogi sat a silver pendant attached to a golden chain on the other.
"Whoever guesses the correct number on the top side of the die wins both," Otogi said. Marik nodded.
"I'll say three," he said.
"And I'll say five." Marik dropped the die onto the wood. It landed up on four. "We roll again," Otogi said. They rolled again and again, until finally, it came up as three. Marik grinned. He took both pieces of jewelry from the table and set it in a pile next to him. Otogi took off a ring with a dark-blue stone embedded in the top of it from his finger, and Marik took off a thin bronze bracelet.
"Odd, or even?" he asked.
"Odd," Otogi replied.
"Then I'll say even." They rolled the dice, it came up as five. Otogi grinned, collecting his winnings. They continued to gamble, Ryou watching with acute interest, until Marik decided that they should quit before they had to strip down. Marik ended up with the most items won, and he grinned to himself happily, putting them on.
"I think that I'll become a helpless gambling addict thanks to your die," he said. Otogi laughed.
"Okay, Honda's back," Malik said, walking over to Otogi and Marik. "Eh? Why do you have more jewelry?" he asked, looking at Marik.
"And why do you have less?" Honda asked Otogi.
"We were gambling," they replied simply.
"Oh. I see," Malik said.
"Ooh! Otogi, remember when we gambled off our clothes to each other!" Honda said with a grin.
"How could I forget? You had nothing left to wear but a single necklace, dear," Otogi replied, grinning back. "It was good that you won them back before we could raid that next ship." Marik fell over laughing at the image of Honda jumping onto a boat attacking enemies without any clothes. Otogi looked to his men. He saw that they had rolled out thin cushions and blankets and were asleep already.
"They must have been exhausted to fall asleep so early," Marik said.
"Probably," Otogi replied.
"We'll help you load your ship with supplies tomorrow, if you like, so you can rest today," Malik said.
"Thank you, Malik. I appreciate it," Otogi said, smiling gratefully.
TBC
Mew: Yay! Finished with chapter three! I worked on this one non-stop till… -looks at clock- 11:47 at night. Now I'm sleepy. –yawns-
Draiku: This chapter seemed pointless. And the title makes no sense!
Mew: Yes, it did seem a little pointless, but it will lead up to events later in the story (or at least it should…).
Yoko: Please R&R guys (but you're most likely all girls reading this…right?)! Mew gets energy from them!