Shadows That Bleed

by YamiYugiPuzzleshipper

Pure-Bloods are said to be myths, not even well-known within stories. "A specialized genetic coding of the moon and the dire," their spoken lore proclaims. They are creatures beyond the power of mortality, gifted by the gods themselves. Known as the Eternal Ones, their existence once extinguished, resurrection foretells a powerful omen.

29. Sacrifices

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

Update schedule: Every other day (no update on June 2nd)

Chapter Warnings: Mild Cursing, Discussion About Murder, Sacrifices, Blood, Wolves Fighting

SO sorry for the late update. A lot of things got piled up on top of each other. My job just got overloaded with things that aren't MY responsibility because my manager is useless. And so now I'm working on getting things sorted out, which completely cut into my time for editing because it's exhausting and I can't seem to wake myself up in the mornings for work anymore as it is

Updates might definitely slow down depending on how the next couple of days go. Things are extremely out of hand and so I have to deal with them before I get my updates for this story done.

This chapter is being posted right after edits so any mistakes I might have missed are results of my autocorrect and lack of sleep.

I apologize for anything that reads too terribly.

Chapter XXIX: Sacrifices

Work Log Entry XXIX: October, 1998

October 12

His father has oddly taken well to his pup. We cannot determine if he truly recognizes him or not. They look nothing alike and his father seems to be too depressed to change back to his human form for the time being.

The boss wishes for us to perform some tests to ensure that he is not unable to do such basic things.

Yugi was all but shaking when he stepped into his room. He was sure he would have been trembling, that he would have been pale and looked as if death itself had touched him. But what he was, was infuriated and the rage had finally placed some color in his cheeks. His eyes were blazing, even as he carefully shut the door behind him and forced his voice to remain low.

"What the fuck did you do?"

Yami tilted his head at him and raised an elegant brow in a sarcastic arch. "I slit his throat with my nails," he said slowly, staring at him intently. "I slit his throat with the nails on my right hand. I killed him."

"You say that like it's okay!"

"It was necessary, so it is okay," he said slowly, grinding his teeth together to keep from snarling. His eyes were darker, like splatters of blood, and his pupils had blown with his ferocity. "I did as was needed."

He nearly spat at him, but instead drew in a deep breath. "How was it necessary, Yami? Why?"

Yami narrowed his eyes and then blinked slowly. "Are you sure you want to know, Yugi?"

Yugi let out a low, guttural snarl, his patience snapping as he hissed, "I just fucking lied to the police for you! I think that the least owed to me is an explanation, Yami."

The other wolf peered at him for a long moment, frowning and tilting his head slightly to the side. He considered him for a moment, then looked away again with sharp eyes. "You may deserve something but never get it," he growled in response, falling silent a moment later and sighing softly.

"He was a friend! And you went and…"

He hesitated for a moment, then reached out to grab his hand. The material of the teal jacket he was wearing was almost silky, slippery beneath his fingertips. He blinked when Yami turned back to him with something of a stunned, almost stricken expression. His gaze had immediately fallen onto his, burning, and the attention he gave him made his heart race slightly.

But Yugi did not let go, instead lowering his eyes to begin rolling his sleeve up. His skin was bare, the bandages pristine and white where they suppressed his wound. He rolled the jacket all the way to the bend of his elbow, inspecting every inch of skin he could see. Then he did the same with the left, relaxing only slightly as Yami rolled the jacket sleeves back down.

Yugi had almost forgotten his anger in his relief to see he was okay, unharmed. But then reality crashed upon him once more. He shivered, eyes on his again. For a moment he could not think to say it again, then he growled out, "Well?"

"He had plans to kill you—"

"How could you possibly know that without having heard us argue? Yami, that doesn't make any sense! Why would you just assume that?"

He bristled. "I didn't just assume—"

"Then where is your proof?"

"He said he wanted to capture Code Name Atem and—"

"I'm not sure if you're aware, but Mai and Otogi both said that the reward is for me to be brought to the labs alive!"

Yami narrowed his eyes, blinking long and slow, a sense of bitterness creeping through him. He shook his head sharply several times, then bore his teeth. Yugi didn't understand what he had done, what he had tried to protect him from. But then, how could he? He could barely restrain his growing anger and it made it nearly impossible to verbalize the words attempting to form in his lungs. He was hardly able to be forthright with the information, either, because he could not properly calm himself now.

"You just have to be alive when they get you," he said quietly, voice so low it held the lightness of a passing breeze. "You do not have to be when they truly capture you. You forget what your being Code Name Atem means, Yugi. The whole truth of the Pure-Blood is that their existence is supposed to be a myth. Because they are the only creatures to be able to be taken by death and returned in the same state."

"Yami, you don't honestly think that's…? It's not possible!" Yugi threw out, frustrated as he shook his head sharply and scowled at him furiously. "It's not possible at all, okay? No one can come back from the dead!"

"…No? Then what about after my heart stopped at the greenhouse? It took a few minutes but it still started up again."

The small teen felt slightly dizzy. "It was muscle contractions because of the electricity—just like Mai and Otogi said—"

"For Lupa's sake, you act as if their word is law! Is it impossible for them to do any wrong? Is that truly what you mean to say to me? That they speak the truth and I only tell you lies?" he spat, eyes dilated with slight fear as well as an abundance of pure anger. He stared at him, almost blinded by his rage, and then slowly fell silent, blinking slowly as a sickened feeling crept through him. His bones seemed to rattle beneath his skin as he stared at him. "You would honestly trust them over me, wouldn't you?"

Yugi felt his cheeks heat, first with indignation and then with embarrassment. Flustered, the smaller teen mumbled, "They haven't given me a reason not to."

The taller boy snarled low in his throat. "And I have? Truly, Yugi, I have?" he demanded angrily. "You would choose to listen to two strangers of whom we only know the names, the blonde of which you are pathetically salivating over even now?"

Yugi wiped at his mouth immediately, stunned and confused, but there was nothing there and he scowled in frustration. "Look, I don't know if you realize this, but I hardly know more about you than I do them—"

"Have I hurt you? Have I wounded you? Have I purposefully gone about an attempt to cause you pain?"

"No, but neither have they—"

"And yet, you have no idea what they may or may not be involved in! You have no idea if they were truly there with the hunter in the woods or if they truly were there to track him! And Mai is the one who tore his throat out. She smeared his blood across my throat when she picked me up. And she pushed the taste into my mouth for days when she pulled my teeth away from the generator. How are you so terribly certain that she is not bait for an unsuspecting werewolf too foolish to know his own tail from his paws? You believe as you wish, Yugi, but I am not the one who mysteriously appeared that day, claiming to have been tracking the human as well as us."

"No, you just show up in the middle of the night on someone's doorstep, bleeding and mute!" Yugi snapped, blushing again at the way Yami startled for the briefest of moments before his lips curled back to show his perfect teeth. "You just kill while claiming that it is what is best for the situation. You just electrocute yourself and make your heart stop. You just… You just go and kill someone in a public place."

He wished instantly that he could swallow his words. The other boy blinked at him, long and slow, and then grimaced. The expression on his face was one of disbelieving frustration and immense hurt. The way Yami stared back at him made Yugi's heart leap into his throat and his mouth grow dry.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

But hadn't he?

He had meant it.

Because Yami was trying to make him turn his scorn on two others who had not done anything wrong as far as he knew. He was assuming that they had done equal to worse things than him.

And that was something that frustrated Yugi.

That was something that made him stop and stare at him.

That was something which made him bristle and lash out in response.

"Mai and Otogi are not saints, no matter what you might think. No one is a saint. Even you have blood on your hands. Remember that."

"Are we about to compare who might have done the worst?" he snapped. "Because I have a very real feeling that it's you who would win."

"Me? And what about you, little Atem? Do you honestly suspect that the things that probably made you do in that lab are not to be measured and weighed because you simply do not remember? Amnesia does not erase. It does not exempt you. You may not remember. But I bet you the ones you have done wrong do."

"That's…that's past."

"No, it's not. As long as you proceed to announce yourself as Code Name Atem, so too are those events present."

"I don't remember them. So they don't… They happened but they don't hold weight right this second! Because you weren't one of the wolves from the lab, were you? And I've done never but try to help you!"

They fell silent for a long time. Yami blinked and lowered his eyes. Yugi frowned, nibbling his bottom lip. They refused to look at each other for what felt like hours. His stomach was rolling with pain. He couldn't bear to look at the taller boy for a long minute.

"Why do you think he was a threat, Yami?" he finally muttered. "Help me to understand… Please!"

He opened his mouth, then stiffened, head snapping audibly as it turned towards the door. Yami's eyes were owlish, his mouth dry. The smaller boy blinked, then turned his head as well, confusion making his eyes wide. There was a soft, steady, familiar noise which registered in his ears. Blood rushing in his head, the small teen nearly groaned. His mom was coming up the stairs.

"Hide!" he hissed, spinning on him. "Go!"

Yami blinked at him stupidly, and Yugi ground his teeth together. With a bristle, his attention sharp and detailed, the small teen shoved him towards his closet. The other wolf blinked at him, aghast when the blue-violet-eyed boy opened the metal door and pushed him inside.

"Get under the clothes. Quickly!"

Yami gave him a dirty look, hissing, "What? Why?"

He shot him a furious glance. "Because, she's going to come in! And you need to not be here when she does. I don't need a talk about homosexuality or having a same sex partner if she sees you!"

Eyes wide, cheeks bright, the other sputtered, "W-why would she—?"

He rolled his eyes, gesturing frantically. "Because, what else are you going to think when there's some random ass kid in your son's room who you've never met? She'll think I've been hiding my relationship with you, especially since I haven't talked about Anzu since our first disaster of a date. Now, hide."

Yami couldn't truly fathom the idea. So turning to the pile of clothes and digging through them in order to bury himself beneath them was actually somehow comforting to him. He allowed Yugi to quickly cover his head with the stray materials, closing his eyes and ignoring the way his heart was in his throat, beating too loudly in his ears.

Would she really have assumed…?

He supposed he could see from her perspective how that might make sense. As Yugi had said, he would be a random teenage boy in her son's room, standing there talking to him, their body language intense, Yugi's desperate, his own confused and fearful. And if he truly had gone out with this girl Anzu and never spoke much about her to his mom afterwards, then it would certainly seem that he had tried to use her to cover his sexuality.

Yet he still could not fully wrap his head around such a concept. Even as he drew in a deep breath and kept his muscles locked, the click of the door a faint noise in his ears, it confounded him. It was not that he truly cared one way or another about one's sexuality; wolves loved who they loved. They could jump from a male to a female and back again within the blink of an eye seemingly. Their sexuality was fluid, allowing them the chance of a true partnership with whomever they considered their mate, their significant other. He had never truly felt the spark to be with someone else, to wish to care for them far more than he did himself. In his mind most things boiled down to whether he thought they were a part of his pack or not.

That loyalty drove him. But Yami had known of others to sacrifice themselves for their mates, be they human or wolves. And it made his fur bristle and his skin itch and his body stiff. He had not understood what it was that made them do such a thing, even when it had been done for him. His heart hurt at the thought, a harsh contraction in which it twisted too fiercely and stuttered in its steadiness. He gasped and choked on air, desperate to flee the closet space now, to try to outrun the weight of the thoughts in his head.

They were smothering him, even as he forced himself to remain still. Yugi's voice was low and quiet and his mother's was somewhat frustrated. He knew instinctively that they were coming towards the closet, and it made his heart pound at twice its usual rate. It had not stopped hurting, however, and each twist and pump of blood felt like a deep poison in his veins. He kept his eyes shut tightly, jaw clenched.

"And what about these clothes?"

"I need to throw them in the laundry," Yugi huffed, "and I'll do it in a few minutes."

"A few minutes usually turns into an hour when it comes to chores," she said in an annoyed tone, the harshness a bit too biting to be towards mere chores. The small teen knew she was still mad that he and his grandpa had gone out to meet with Yoshimori as they had, though he had failed to tell her as of yet that he had been killed. He didn't know what words he was supposed to use. "But I need you to do them before six, Yugi. I need to wash—"

"They'll be done before six," he bit back, flustered. She kept eyeing the pile, almost as if she could tell something was wrong but could not put her finger on it. Thankfully Yami had remained perfectly still for the most part, so he was basically invisible to her. Yugi himself could see those almost unnoticeable, tiny stirrings of his breaths as he inhaled, but he knew it was his heightened senses. "I'll have them all done before six, okay?"

"When was the last time you even did laundry? That's not all from this week!"

"No, and I never said it was. I said I had slacked off on laundry a couple of days ago, didn't I?"

Kasumi shot him a warning look, telling him to back off his biting tone. Her eyes narrowed into slits and she nearly spat at him for a moment. Instead she shook her head sharply and turned on her heel. "Whatever, Yugi. Just remember where everything is, all right?"

Yugi followed a step behind her, desperate to get her out of the room altogether. "Yeah, the laundry detergent, the scented crystals and the dryer sheets are all above the washer and dryer. Then I have to clean the lint trap so that it doesn't catch on fire." He tried not to, but his voice came out condescending and annoyed and he flushed when she turned around to give him another harsh warning look. "Sorry. I just… I know, okay? I do. And I'll do them in a few minutes, I promise."

She sighed, then shook her head and wandered off. He wondered not for the first time what exactly it was that Yoshimori had done to make her despise him so much. It surprised him, how much hatred and loathing she seemed to possess for him. He watched her go, barely aware of the fact that he was still standing in the hallway. Then he turned and quickly made his way back into the room.

"Yami?"

There was no answer and his stomach dropped as he headed into the closet. His mouth was dry, his stomach twisting, as he saw the pile of clothes completely undone. His teal jacket was lying nearby, shrugged off with obvious care, and he was nowhere in sight. Yugi looked around for a long moment, then huffed. The window was open. Yami had snuck out. But how he had found a path comfortable enough to go without risk of being caught was beyond him. He blinked and looked towards the closet, then the bed.

He had used the bed to cover himself, hiding beneath it just as long it took for him to get his mom outside of the room and hold that mild snippet of conversation. He had then snuck to the window, opened it, and climbed out. Yugi blinked at the glass pane, moving towards it to gently lower it until it closed.

Yami had left it wide open.

He frowned, tilting his head. Had something scared him? Or was he just so angry that he had forgotten? Maybe their argument had been so fresh in his mind that he had simply fled and forgotten to cover his tracks. Or maybe he was so estranged to the idea of homosexuality that he'd fled.

Yugi supposed it didn't matter as he turned to the clothing pile. What did was that he was gone now. And the small teen was on laundry duty. He began to shift through his clothes, then toss them into the hamper. It would be easier to take the entire basket than go with handfuls.

He hesitated as he looked at Yami's jacket for a moment. He had never washed it before. And he was unsure that he would even want him to. But he couldn't imagine that the red-eyed teen would care one way or the other. And he was supposed to be doing laundry, so why not the jacket as well?

He shrugged, snatching it up. The scent of autumn leaves, crisp and curled upon branches of aspen trees, with the barest touch of woodsy oak, met his nose. He shivered, because the smell urged something deep inside of him to rear its head, desperate for approval and attention.

But the softest touch of winter snow, of moonlight cold and unbroken by drifting clouds, of pine needles crushed beneath paws and the slightest hint of rain came as well. The two scents blended melodiously, making his head spin for the briefest of seconds. A smile tugged at the edge of his lips. It was heavenly, the way the air seemed to swell with the addition of the smell.

He hummed and tossed it into the hamper a moment later. It would smell the same later when Yami wore it again, he supposed. Not that he planned to sniff it again at any rate. That would have been embarrassing.

---

It was several hours later that Yami returned to the house. The smaller teen was greeted by a frantic, wild-eyed boy who was panting with clear distress as he looked about the room with a widened gaze. His face had grown pale and his pupils seemed almost to vibrate, enlarged with sudden and intense fear. It bordered panic, terror, and Yugi faltered when he spun on him.

"Where…? Where is it…?"

He was rasping and the noise cut low in the small teen's body, his blood cooled by the desperation in his tone. He blinked, shaking his head slightly, heart lurching and mouth growing dry with paste. He stared at him, then shook his head again slowly.

"My jacket—" He seemed to choke in the way his voice tapered off. "Where is it…?"

"I washed it…" He blinked at him, because suddenly Yami looked extremely unsteady and small. "I'll go grab it, give me a second."

He was in a daze when Yugi returned, holding the soft, worn jacket, its pristine condition a reminder of so many things he wished never to remember or ever to forget. He blinked as it was held out to him, the small teen frowning in clear puzzlement, and a son rose to his throat as he stared at it. His mouth was dry, his heart twisting and skipping in its ragged beats, his skin growing further pale, a sweat beginning to bloom upon his forehead. His shoulders shook, harsh and silent, and his eyes grew glassy, watery, his vision slightly blurred. With a strangled noise, he snatched it from him, then felt his stomach coil with growing distress.

He could only stare blankly. His heart was everywhere in his head, pounding painfully. His vision was growing further impaired. Darkness was coiling and billowing inwards. He choked again, shoulders shaking harder. Then the breath wheezed from his lungs and burst forth in a whistle of a rasp. He forced his teeth together, then felt the antagonistic ache and push of his stomach heaving upwards.

He was shaking, erratic and painful, gasping frantically. Then he turned his head. His mouth opened. A spray of bile tainted red dripped onto the floor first in a small stream. Then it doubled. Painfully his knees threatened to buckle and he swayed. He could not breathe as he clutched the jacket closer to himself and doubled over. The noise was a roar of sloshing acid and pounding liquid, swallowing away the burst of his blood in his ears.

Yugi was frozen, too horrified to move. He could do no more than gape as Yami continued to puke. The taller teen heaved and sputtered, spittle foaming along the edges of his jaw. He gasped and snapped his jaws and whimpered, whining with breath whistling from his nose. His eyes were bloodshot, pained as tears trailed down his cheek. He did not seem conscious of any of it, however, oblivious to all but that single piece of clothing clutched his hands. His fingers were strained, his knuckles white, and when he puked again, his wrists had grown red from the tape pressing his circulation away.

Yet, still, Yugi could nothing but gape.

It took what felt like an eternity for Yami to finally stop. The carpet was soaked a hideous yellow-green, edged with red where he'd spewed what Yugi realized with a spinning mind was meat.

He'd gone hunting.

And he'd ended up vomiting it all up again in one moment.

The pile of it was that of a messy blur of red, of white where the bone had been crushed into dust and fragments, and the foam which caked his mouth was a froth of yellow and green, of pink and orange and deep patches of red that looked blackened.

He stared at it, unsure of what more to do. He ran a mental list of how quickly he needed to get it up, how fast he'd have to get the cleaners to clean it from the fibers. His head was spinning, but his thoughts were already racing towards the solutions to clean up this newest problem.

He spun on his heel and was gone before Yami even thought to raise his head. He stretched the fabric out in front of him, a broken cry leaving his lungs before he could stop himself. It was high-pitched and shuddering the second time it came out, an animalistic scream of anguish. When Yugi reappeared he was still whimpering, that sound leaving him in desperate gasps, and he was shaking harder than even before. The tears flowing from his eyes had not ceased and his shoulders were still wracked with his numerous tremors.

He couldn't understand what had upset him that much. It was just a jacket, wasn't it? Yugi stepped forward, moving towards the pile on the floor. It was mostly paste, from where Yami had started to digest it during the Change. He gagged at the thought, then at the acrid smell which came with close proximity to it. He drew in a deep breath, then held it tightly in his lungs as he moved to slide the mixture into the small bucket he had brought with him. He dug it into the carpet, then pushed with the dustpan of the small broom he'd used several times before to sweep away hair and dirt from inside some of the other kennels.

Yami was still shaking, but he had fallen silent by the time he had gotten it up, spraying it down until the entire puddle of discoloration was saturated. He added a few more small squirts for good measure, then got slowly to his feet. When he turned his head, the other wolf was blinking, eyes dried for the most part, though they looked exhausted. The red puffiness of them was nonexistent, nothing to be seen as he struggled to comprehend. He blinked, dragging his eyes towards him, and the agony turned into a swift wave of loathing.

Yugi startled at the sight of it, stepping back with wide eyes. The red gaze burned into his, his shoulders rising into an aggressive bristle. Even as they still shook with the aftershock of his pain, he managed to let out a snarl and bare his teeth. The surface of them was laced with red, flecked along his canines with bile, and the addition of the foam encasing his mouth made him shiver. He backed up another step. Yami looked furious enough to tear his head from his body at any moment.

He clenched his fists, pulling the jacket somehow impossibly closer to his chest, then snarled lower in his throat. The noise was so guttural Yugi almost could not tell if the other boy truly even recognized him, or perhaps if something had seemingly snapped within his brain. Perhaps he had lost all sense of recognition and thus saw him as a great and terrible threat.

But the red eyes were not distant. And he could see the dangerous ferocity, the hideous recognition there, boring into his. When he dropped the snarl lower, Yugi backed up several more steps. He did not advance on him, rather looked as if he too planned to move away. But the smaller boy did not wait to see. Instead he ducked his head, moving unconsciously to cover his throat with his shoulders, and raced for the bathroom.

Yami watched him go. He felt it on his shoulders and the back of his head like a laser. It was hot and ancient and primal beyond recognition. It made his heart race and his stomach lurch and his head spin once more. He nearly puked himself when he got to the toilet, but his nerves, as frantic as they were, righted themselves seconds later. With a task to focus on, Yugi was easily able to simply dump the paste into the water. It turned hideous bright red, swirling upwards, and his head spun painfully with the thought. He nearly groaned in the back of his throat, disgusted and terrified by the sight of it.

But it was Yami which he feared more, even as he flushed, then dumped the other half into the toilet. When he flushed this time, it looked like a swirling whirlpool of blood and guts and it made him sway on his feet. Then, he shook it off, tossing his head back and forth several times to dispel the thought, and forced himself to take a calming deep breath.

When he got back into the room, Yami was back in his corner. His legs were drawn to his chest, his arms wrapped tightly around them. His gaze was stuck on the jacket, set a couple of feet away from him. The anguish was back, the anger long gone. He rocked back and forth every few minutes, but refused to look away from it.

Yugi went about drying the mixture from the floor with paper towels, scraping the carpet's surface first with the dustpan to get the foam off. The paper towels took up most of the liquid, the foam absorbing most of the stain. He dropped the paper into the toilet a sheet at a time, flushing them only when he was sure there was no chance of it clogging.

He returned a few minutes later. But nothing had changed. Aside from the fact that his floor no longer had the hideous pile of bloody remains, everything looked exactly the same. "Yami, I…" He opened his mouth again but the other boy merely shook his head, then ducked to rest his cheek against his jeans. He was still staring at the jacket. Yugi knew it instinctively.

The silence made him queasy.

What had he done?

Yugi couldn't breathe properly as he looked at the other boy. He barely moved but to breathe, in which case his shoulders rose and fell in hideous silent sobs once more. His breaths were even, though now they whistled at the edges again. He wanted to wail at the way it curled in his ears and the sight of Yami, looking so incredibly small, only a sixth of his size, as if he were nothing more than broken limbs and clothing, made him dizzy.

He took a seat on the bed, his own breaths coming in wheezed, his throat strained and his lungs bursting with the effort. His heart ached for him, though he did not know the reason behind Yami's distress.

What had he done?

He should have known better.

He had seen how much Yami cherished the stupid thing.

He'd never understood why.

But it always looked a million times better than his other clothes.

He swallowed thickly, then choked out, "I can get you a new one."

Yugi didn't know why he said it, nor what sense it truly made to offer. The teal jacket had obviously meant so much more to Yami than he could have ever imagined. He could never replace it. Yet somehow his mind thought it justified to whisper such a promise, to offer such compensation. He could have laughed at himself, hysterical with disgust.

His head was swimming again. His voice was desperate, pleading. "Please? I can get you another one."

He whined low in his throat, like a dog begging for its master's forgiveness. It made him feel small and weak, but there was something to be said about the way the air coiled and seemed almost for a moment to swallow such noise. He breathed out raggedly, then shook his head pathetically.

Yami did not lift his eyes.

The silence draped over them further, suffocating in its immense hold. He could barely breathe and the other teen seemed to have similar difficulty. His shoulders were still shaking every inhale. He wanted to draw his own legs up and wrap his arms around them now. But somehow it seemed a mockery of the other's pain, so Yugi simply drew in a harsh breath, then wrapped his arms tightly around his belly. He hung his head, because all he could think to say was the continued pathetic offer to buy another one.

---

Yami remained in that corner for two days. He did not touch food or water. When Yugi offered it to him, he would be unsurprised after that first day to find the plate still full or the cup untouched. He had tried on several occasions to coax him into eating or drinking, had practically begged him. But the red-eyed teen would not so much as raise his head.

And he truly feared that he would have even refused to bother himself with the effort of breathing had he not been forced to.

The third day Yugi came back from school, tossing his backpack down and sighing at the disarray his efforts had furthered, when he noticed it.

Yami had moved.

It was nothing more than to pull the jacket into his lap and place his head against it, face angled towards him, eyes dead as they bore into his, but he had still moved. The sight chilled him but it also made his heart pound and a small sense of excitement rush through him.

He wanted to smile but the way Yami peered at him unnerved him as well. He swallowed hard, then shook his head slightly. The room smelled different from what the jacket itself had boasted. Because Yami had not moved those two days, his scent permeated the air at an intensity that swamped even his own. He could almost barely detect himself beneath it.

But the scent was much colder than it had appeared to be at first. There was no mesmerizing mixture of scents. Instead it was one large blend of a harsher tone, like darkness where the autumn's sunlight had been, pine needles shed and crushed where the leaves had been curling inwards, with moonlight like gentle drizzles of honey, and a blistering burst of icy snowflakes amidst the longest winter. He smelled nothing like autumn, and all the season to follow.

He smelled unnaturally like the very embodiment of winter, as if the weather itself relied on his presence to further its cool touch.

Yugi knew better than to push but still he asked, "Did you eat today?" in a small voice. He hesitated, biting his lip until it bled, and then tilted his head. Yami was staring at him with those same dulled eyes, gaze lost of any sense of emotion. They looked at each other for a long time until Yugi finally jerked his head away and looked at the floor.

There was a gentle rustling noise, the slightest of sounds, and it made Yugi stiffen for a moment. It was so small that his stomach knotted with confusion, anticipation, and he barely resisted the urge to immediately look up. But he kept his head lowered, struggling, hoping against everything that the other wolf would not react badly. Maybe if he resisted looking at him Yami might react to him.

For a long minute nothing happened. Then he allowed himself to peek from beneath his lashes. Yami was watching him, and his head was angled in a way that made it obvious he had been waiting for him to look. His gaze caught on his, the two of them stared for a long minute, and then the taller teen shifted his weight. His right cheek slid against the fabric of his jeans, the same rustling noise he had heard before. The process was long and slow, and at first Yugi almost thought he was just scratching his face.

Then he realized he was shaking his head.

The sense of excitement which coursed through him almost made him feel guilty. Even as his eyes grew wider than before and his mouth opened and closed, he felt a strong sinking sensation fill his gut. It laced his lungs, tightening them drastically. He felt as if he might choke, as if the world were spinning around him.

"Are you hungry?"

For several long minutes there was no response, that vacant look making his eyes appear darker and distant, glazed over. Then he blinked and slowly shook his head, dragging his cheek along his jeans again. His eyes shut tightly a moment later, the exhaustion evident in the draw of his brows, the crease of his eyelids, the way the skin along his cheeks drew upwards with the action. His lips had drawn slightly forward into something of a moue as he kept his eyes clenched tightly shut.

"Okay. Have you at least…? Did you…?" He looked over towards the desk where he had put the protein shake in the off chance that Yami might touch it. When he leaned forward, craning his neck and straining his eyes, he could just barely see a frothy foam at the top, colored yellow-white from the vanilla flavoring. He could not see the top of the shake within the cup.

His mouth opened into a wide grin. He had drunk some. Yami had drunk some of the protein shake.

It wasn't as great as if he had eaten on top of that, but it was progress nonetheless.

When he looked back at him, he almost would have assumed him to be asleep. His eyes were no longer clenched so tightly, and appeared rather relaxed. But when he truly studied him, he could see that his eyes were open into slits, his lashes long and nearly blocking the sight of his irises. But he was still awake, even as silent and statuesque as he appeared. He was all but frozen in place, head still against his legs, the jacket bunched in his arms.

Yugi was almost afraid that he would start shaking again, that perhaps he would open his mouth and puke as violently as he had before. But the seconds passed and Yami simply sat there, not at all respondent to him. For a few long minutes nothing seemed to happen. Then Yugi very slowly let out a soft sigh, murmuring, "Good."

It was the only thing he could possibly think to say, as miniscule and seemingly pointless as it was. He closed his eyes for a moment, mimicking the taller teen, and then they both looked at one another again. He wanted for only a split second to ask him if he wanted another one, but immediately fell silent of the idea. His head was spinning as they looked at each other.

"I…I can still buy you a new one… A jacket, I mean…"

He felt as if his tongue was swollen, sticking to the roof of his mouth, and it made him feel lightheaded. The other wolf stared at him, silence deafening as it bore down on his thin frame. They continued to stare at one another, frozen and cautious as their gazes bore into each other. Alarms were going off in his head, warnings that he was stepping on very thin ice and needed to remember himself before he did something more foolish to anger Yami.

Yugi was well aware of just how fragile the other was, how easily he might snap at the moment, and it gave him pause.

For several long minutes there was no response of any kind. Then, very slowly, Yami snapped, voice harsh and irritated, with a raw edge that made him cringe, "I. Do. Not. Want. A. New. One."

Yugi swallowed thickly. Then he looked away. "I'm sorry."

He ignored him. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. Sharply he dug his cheek into his knee and curled his lip back furiously. "Shut up."

He took a seat but not once did Yami look up at him through his lashes.

---

He was not sure what had spurred it. Perhaps it had been the intensity with which he was hit by the fear and adrenaline, the worry and the immense pain which coursed through him. It took only a moment, a hideous and long moment, so drawn out that he felt hours had passed.

His blood had grown hot, bursting within his veins, and his vision had exploded with splashes of illuminating white. His head was spinning, teeth biting into his tongue. Bile had splashed forward and through him, scorching his throat hideously. The spasm that had wracked him had sent his legs jerking and twitching, seizing with pain.

Then he had collapsed, falling to the ground and writhing as his body pushed through a wall of flame and his lungs choked with their exhales. Then, very slowly, he had been able to breathe again. He was able to see more clearly, the white dissipating. He was able to remember himself around the pain, the spasm fading from his worn limbs.

When he had come to himself fully, getting to his feet again, he had been winded but unsurprised to see paws where his hands had been. He had not even blinked at the way his vision seemed to have expanded slightly, giving him a wider view of the area around him.

Yugi stood there, motionless safe for his breathing, blinking about himself as he finally turned his head. The woods looked oddly tranquil despite the hideous clarity with which he remembered the hunter setting his dogs upon them. He recalled vividly the way that he had been unable to outrun them, and Yami had snatched him by the scruff to toss him into the greenhouse.

He looked up towards branches thin and layered snow, glistening with faint sunlight and seeming to glow palely before his eyes. The bare branches reached far into the sky, where the clouds were a similar shade of bright white like the water crystals which laden them.

He lowered his eyes, looking towards the ground. His clothes were ruined. He sat back on his haunches and forced himself to resist the urge to whine pathetically in the back of his throat.

They were shredded and the torn material was covered in bright yellow bile. He sighed softly, the noise whistling through the air in a ragged current of white. Stomach still churning, the white wolf got slowly to his feet and began to move forward again.

He didn't have a change of clothes.

He wasn't sure exactly how he was meant to get back into the house without clothes.

Sure, no one was likely to be looking out their window for a nude teenage boy, but it was still pretty embarrassing by any means. And where was he meant to change? Across the street, then run towards the house, scale the wall, and sneak in through the window again?

If he had not had fur to cover his face or the wolf's natural inability to do so, he would have blushed viciously at the very thought.

Still his belly curled with churning pain. He was gnawed by hunger, soft and aching, but the idea repulsed him. He would not eat while he was out in the woods, because he would not hunt like a wild animal. And when he got home, he doubted his stomach would be calm enough to allow him to do so.

Yugi had no idea what it was that he was going to do. As the seconds passed, his muscles twitched, restless beneath his skin. He faltered and looked about him but the cold forest seemed to have no answers. With a sniff of the air, he could detect nothing but coming snow like a blanket of water and the softest touch of prey that he turned away from. He felt his skin twitch again, riding over his muscles with a spasm, and then moved forward a step to rid himself of such sensation.

As he moved about, the wolf craned his head back to look towards the sky again. The clouds looked somewhat heavy, though fluffy as cotton balls torn and unrolled, stretched across like a child's elementary school project. He paced forward slowly, leisurely, not the smallest bit undone by the idea of movement. His paws were carrying him faster than his human body ever had when he walked or jogged. It felt as if he were barely touching the ground as he raced forward; the snow hardly seemed to press beneath his paws, or to emit even the softest of noises.

He wrinkled his nose faintly as he began to move faster, this time his paws stretching far ahead of him. They were so perfectly white that his forelegs blended in with the snow completely but for the long black keratin of his claws. Had he not been able to see every strand of fur on his legs as he began to slow and scent the air slightly, he would have thought he was part of the snow.

He could not move for a moment, scenting something long and sharp which burned at his nostrils. It clogged his senses for a heartbeat, drowning him for a long minute, and then he blinked slowly and raised his head a bit more.

Yugi did not have to think about the smell to know what it was. His eyes widened and he curled his lips back slightly with disgust and confusion. The air was clenched by the harsh metallic edge of the blood staining the snow somewhere ahead of him. But it was unusually sharp, burning, and it caused his ears to ring and his eyes to ache with slight pain.

The noise was the next to enter his mind, sending him reeling. He nearly collapsed from the impact of it. There were large, hideous snarls, which echoed and boomed within his skull. He nearly stumbled with the force of it, then shook it off in order to step forward again.

He could hear the drops of blood hitting the snow now, sizzling as it melted into the snow. Small mists of white surged upwards, a definitive crackling noise within his ears. He shivered and snow began to fall in delicate drifting wisps of white crystals, swirling where the air tossed them gently as it began to shift and tug at the flakes.

Accept our sacrifice, Eternal One, for our blood will nurture yours and our strength will rekindle your power. Come to us now, Canis Lupus Dirus, Code Name Atem!

He snuck forward a step, wrinkling his nose and scenting the air once more. He could only catch the hideous smell of blood at first, even as he lowered his body to the snow and dragged his belly along the ice. It shifted so softly he almost could not hear it. The chanting was beginning to die away once more, as he pushed himself forward with gentle steps. He stretched his paws as far as they would go, his shoulders rippling as his muscles moved and tightened in preparation.

If he was low to the ground, they were less likely to see him. If he crept so slowly, they were at odds with the ability to hear him. If he kept his own ears up and working, his nose twitching as cautiously as he could, none of them would be able to detect him, right?

He paced a few steps forward, dragging himself, feeling distinctly cat-like for this game.

He felt the ice against his belly, though his fur shielded him from the chill it should have offered. His paws did not even truly absorb the impact of the snow beneath, working as diligently as he was attempting to make his mind. He felt almost like a serpent as the smell became somehow stronger before him. He came over the small dip of a dune and then froze in place.

The wolves appeared to be gone. And the two bodies had been dragged several feet, snow smeared with red in its displacement. He was not sure why they had bothered to shift them at all. But then he noticed their heads were tilted far back, the gaping holes of their throats exposed. Trembling, the white wolf crept forward still.

The female lay to his right, a brilliant silver along her back and shoulders, her underbelly a white almost as pure as his own. But her fur was drenched in blood, clumped by it, and his belly ached as he looked it over. When he turned towards the male to the left, his jaw was underlined with a ringlet of black several inches downwards. The underbelly was tawny in color, with black across the bottom of its shoulders, along the front of each forelimb. He shuddered as he glanced slightly towards the tail, which was bright red and streaked with brown and black, the sorted undertones of silver.

He shivered again, moving forward a few small steps to get between the two still bodies. His stomach clenched and his lips curled back, the movement laden with disgust. He could barely hear around him now, so caught up in this grotesque display of symbolism was he.

Yugi knew their deaths to be fresh, the blood to be spilled only minutes before, and it made his head spin as he looked at them. Their jaws had long since grown relaxed, but the blood had dribbled from them towards their eyes and downwards to the snow.

There were fresh paw prints all about the clearing, some colored by blood, but others pure white within the compressed crystals. He sniffed lightly at the air, smelling so many different tendrils of scent that it made his head spin, his senses reeling. He craned his neck, eyes sharp as he looked the prints over and struggled to sort through the smells of the wolves formerly there.

There were so many, all blurring together at a rate that he could not fathom. Every single one of them had become a harsh, invigorating burst of smell which made his head spin. Each individual strand of smell curled within his lungs, swirling and catching inside of him. They sorted rapidly within his mind, but it did nothing to stop him from growing further confused by it all.

And it was the smell of the wolves which distracted him. As he leaned forward and sniffed once more, dragging the scents in, struggling to find if he could sort through them and attempt to identify the number of wolves there, a noise came to him. He stiffened and spun, abrupt and fierce in his movement. He curled his lips back, then froze in place swiftly once more. Eyes wide, a very keen and rigid reality came upon him.

If he snarled at them as they came on him, they would easily kill him. If he threw himself on his side with his throat exposed, there was no guarantee they would see it as surrender and could simply kill him. If he came towards them, even wagging his tail, he was sure they would come at him aggressively. Perhaps, if he remained where he was and kept his body language passive, they would not harm him.

Yugi forced himself to look about the trees. The wolves were immense shadows, ghosts which moved in the snow. He nearly bristled; they looked so unearthly. They looked so unusual and fierce, their lips drawn back, their teeth bared. They came in waves, almost as if there were millions upon millions of them. He backed up a step, glancing over his shoulder and back slowly. The directions they came were from all around, fast beyond his vision as they surged through the forest.

He raised his tail to hold it parallel to his spine, then pointed his nose slightly towards the ground. He pricked his ears forward and wagged his tail in slow sweeps of cold air. He cut his eyes towards the snow, making himself friendly, approachable.

They launched themselves at him in a fury. Snarls tore through the air, then harsh chomping teeth boomed through the trees. They surged towards him rapidly, racing, and the snarls were roars. Still he kept his tail up, wagging it, making himself as approachable as he could possibly muster. The wolf directly in front of him was massive, about the exact same size as Bakura had been. But its head was a bit larger and as it came forward he felt the urge to raise his tail and snarl in response.

There was something wild, unsightly, about its gaze where the pupils were mere pinpricks of black and the irises of such pale purple it was almost white. He thought of milky cataracts and blindness and it made him bristle faintly despite his attempt to keep himself from attacking. But there was something else. There was something about the shape of its face and the harsh shape of its muzzle, sharp and long. He struggled not go raise his lips into a snarl.

His heart was racing as they looked at each other. Their eyes were locked, the other wolf snarling and snapping his jaws. Yugi refused to rise to such aggression at the expense of his own life. So he merely wagged his tail, slowing it in slight warning, and braced himself for impact.

As the snow drifted in front of his sharpened eyes, he nearly quivered. The way the wolves shot to him, snarling and snapping and baring their long fangs, made him dizzy. But still he could not stop staring at the wolf directly in front of him. And it occurred to him only as the canine shot ahead of the rest, eager to spill his blood, why.

Its forehead, right beneath his ears, was stripped of fur. Blood was dripping from scratches along its muzzle. Its pale eyes were barren of fur surrounding its left. The left ear was bleeding as well. Its legs were unusually long. Its chest was concaved in shape, smaller than average. Along its cheeks the fur seemed to have been pulled from his skin.

Yugi could barely contain himself any longer. The wolf looked too large to fight back. But he knew easily that Yami could have taken it. The black wolf was larger than him. The black wolf was also more vicious. He found his tail beginning to rise, infuriated at the very thought. He tore his lips back, exposing each of his teeth.

Instinct rattled inside of him to fight back, to fend for himself, because surely no one else would. He braced himself, lowered his head, and let loose a snarl so guttural that several of the wolves startled. Abruptly they slowed, a quiver racing through them collectively.

As he chomped his teeth, they began to press themselves to the floor, ears back, tails lowered. They stared at him, eyes wide and startled.

But the single dark gray and tan wolf in front of him was unaffected by any means. He came at him rapidly, viciously, snarling. His teeth were bared at him, gums blackened like soot and ash. His nose was wrinkled so far back it seemed almost nonexistent.

As they slammed into each other, the wolf bit at him. His teeth aimed towards his face. But he missed as Yugi forced his body to twist. It threw their equilibriums off. Stupidly he struggled to gain his footing again. The other wolf was on him in an instant.

A face of pale tan and dark brown was immediately borne in his face. The flesh, dark pink and red, along its left eye was painful to look at. Pale skin, almost ashen in shade, shown beneath its russet ears. The cinnamon mixed about the dark gray and peppered silver strands along its forehead were rough against its white cheeks. The teeth were longer than he'd ever seen, surpassing even Yami's. And they came for his throat.

He threw a paw out and caught him in the neck. The unexpected motion was forceful enough to make him gag. His attack halted. He choked for a single second. Yugi struggled to throw himself to his belly. He angled his neck to shield the vein. Then he jumped to his feet. He snarled and bore his teeth angrily. Every fur along his back was in a hideous bristle. He could feel it. And his tail had risen aggressively once more. He chomped his teeth.

A whine rippled through the air behind him. The wolf in front of him reacted instantly. Its eyes were furious as it spun to face the source of the noise. It chomped its teeth and snarled angrily. Yugi lunged forward. But his mind was on the pack. If they saw fit to come at him, they would kill him. He could not face such immense numbers and survive. He did not even truly think Yami could either.

His distraction caused him to miscalculate. Rather than his skull, Yugi caught his ear. He had meant to force him down. But instead he shredded flesh too thin to cause much impact. He felt the blood on his tongue.

But he chomped his teeth inches away. He nearly wailed. The way he landed those few inches from him was pathetic by any means. The minimal damage made his head spin.

And the wolf took full advantage.

Yugi nearly screamed.

Teeth caught in his shoulder. The bones grated hideously. A harsh popping and grinding made themselves known. The air crackled and burst with explosions.

He was wracked with pain. The sensation of his teeth tearing through his muscle made his mouth open in shock. His eyes threatened to pop out of his skill. He could not fully comprehend his own mistake.

The wolf tugged. Yugi yelped. Then his mind seemed to drift. A fog seemed to creep forth. It was harsh and burning. But it comforted him as well. And he embraced it, unsure what else to do.

With his gentle hold on it, Yugi felt as if a dam snapped within his head. The pressure coated him heavily. It dulled the pain and strengthened his mind. He snapped his teeth. Then he turned violently. His fangs caught the wolf's throat. Blood sprayed the air. The white canine shifted his weight. Then he threw his head.

The pain in his shoulder came in a throb. The bone was punctured by his fangs. But it was not fully broken. And it dislocated violently beneath his muzzle. But it did not stop him. He tugged and tossed his head again. The wolf snarled, snapping at thin air when he was dislodged. He pulled back. Then he snapped his teeth again. His incisors split the other's cheek. His body moved forward.

Yugi's paws caught him around the shoulders. He pushed harshly. His weight made him nearly topple. His teeth buried into his skull. The pressure made the other scream. His body forced him further down. Body tight with tension, he kept his teeth in his skull.

He slammed him to the snow. And the wolf twitched and screamed again. He scrabbled.

But Yugi kept the pressure.

He kept his weight upon him.

His paw was against his throat, forcing the gray wolf further down. His blood burned in his mouth. The squirming and thrashing only caused his teeth to go further. His cheek was gushing. His forehead was crunching where his teeth continued.

The wolf wailed and struggled. Yugi did not truly even understand his position here now. He kept him beneath him, pinned. His teeth forced him further down. Every twitch simply proved to clamp his jaws further.

He snarled against his face. He felt blood coursing into his mouth, coating his tongue. He kept his grip. The wolf squirmed again. Then he finally lowered his entire body to the floor. The snarling did not cease as his screaming once had. He instead twisted his head painfully. He struggled to use the angle to dislodge him. As he tilted his head up and braced it against the snow, Yugi simply tightened his grip.

The roar was deafening in his ears. His head was throbbing. His heart was racing. His stomach was churning. He snarled louder.

When he sensed movement rather than saw it, he snarled louder. His voice rose in a hideous roar of noise.

Each of them remained there, pressed to the ground. But for one.

He turned his head. The movement dragged the other wolf.

It screamed but Yugi ignored the sound. Hatefully, tail rising in warning, he watched. The female was predominantly bright red and cinnamon in shade. Tawny made up some of the color of her underbelly. But the cinnamon shade seemed to encompass the rest of her body. It was only slightly paler to make up the more average design of the face of a gray wolf.

It looped her eyes, colored the very tips of her brows, the insides of her ears, the fur of her cheeks beneath the inch-long strips of darker red beneath both eyes. The tip of her muzzle was smeared with it, fading into the darker, more pronounced shade of color.

Code Name Atem.

Her voice was crystalline. It was gorgeous, musical. It made his head pound, though at first the words were lost to him. He growled a little louder. She tilted her head, then watched him. Her tail wagged, parallel to her spine. Her eyes were a brilliant golden shade, glowing in the coming darkness. Her manner was gentle, but her words were powerful, intoxicating.

You have come, Code Name Atem. At last you have arrived.

Yugi blinked slowly, pausing, and then very slightly flicked an ear. His wide blue-violet eyes peered at her blankly. In the coming darkness they both looked at each other. It was a curious sensation, to hear and recognize his name and yet be unable to truly respond to it. He blinked and the she-wolf wagged her tail once more.

But both of them stopped short and snarled as the wolf beneath him squirmed. He was snapping his jaws at them both angrily, snarling viciously. But both of them showed only anger towards his growing fit of frustration.

Silence, Marik!

Yugi blinked. The wolf beneath him immediately stilled. All noise ceased. He blinked angry, furious eyes, but did not argue. He merely stared at the she-wolf, frustrated. The white wolf blinked, shifting his weight. His claws dug further into the wolf's coat. The skin was punctured lightly. The blood was sticky beneath his toes, even as slight as it was.

You do not speak to him in such manner. He is the one who will lead us to victory. He is Code Name Atem, you fool! He is the one with the blood of the gods in his veins. You do not so much as blink in his direction should it not be with worship.

The white wolf blinked stupidly at her words. She knew he was…? But how did she know that? And what did she mean by the blood of the gods? Was it just another way to elude at his being immortal like the stories claimed? Or was it because he had to have been "blessed" by the gods when he was born?

His stomach twisted. His heart was in his throat. His lungs were rattling as he breathed. He blinked at her. And then he slowly forced his jaws open. The blood was welling from the other wolf's shredded cheek and along his skull. It drizzled into his eye and he growled in disdain but did not move. Yugi glanced at this wolf she had called Marik but he was hardly a drifting thought in his mind.

He turned to her again, eyes wide.

How had she known?

How was that even possible?

His lips curled back slightly as he glanced at her, nervous.

How did she know that?

How could she have possibly…?

Your coat is as white as the snow… It was said so softy Yugi almost missed it even from where it was projected into his mind. He blinked slowly, then flattened his ears. I've never seen any wolf with such a pure, beautiful coat.

Pure? He blinked. Shouldn't his tail still have a scent gland on it? He was tempted to look over. It would have discolored it, even if only slightly. Shouldn't it have? He blinked and pricked his ears forward towards her.

And then it occurred to him, with startling clarity.

Yami's coat was one massive intense shade of black. He had not even the finest sliver of another color anywhere within his pelt. And he himself was pure white. Did the word "pure" have anything to do with the first part of the blood type of the lycanthrope's apparent ancestors? Did "Pure-Blood" hint at the fur color as well as the content of lycanthropy in one's blood?

Yugi blinked. Did that mean Yami was a Pure-Blood too? He startled, then flicked an ear. There was no way, right? Surely Yami would have told him, wouldn't he? He would have told him and explained the meaning behind it and all that, right?

Now, rise to your feet and welcome our savior.

The other wolves were watching with abundant excitement and confusion, curious and anxious to get a better look at him. But it was her words which made his head spin.

How long had these wolves been here?

How long had they been waiting for him to come to then?

How long had they been hiding in the woods as they were?

What was the expanse of their territory?

The forest or the mountains?

Yugi felt sick as he looked at them.

Very slowly, hesitantly, he backed up a step. The other wolves were still all pressed to the ground. A few whined and the russet-furred she-wolf tilted her head at his second step.

You are overwhelmed.

He shook his head slightly, but backed up again. His fur was bristling and his tail had come up slightly. His ears were back, his lips drawn to reveal his teeth. He blinked at them and another wolf whined. This time his eyes trailed the source of the sound. A small, lean black wolf with white ears was pressed to the ground further back. And its eyes were a brilliant teal color.

He snarled low in his throat.

That was Otogi.

Yugi backed up again, lowering his head, then turned away. Another wolf whined but he ignored them, racing off for his home. None of them followed. He heard the she-wolf snap at them to let him go. He heard her proclamation that he would come back soon enough.

He was through the trees and halfway to the house before it occurred to him to turn back. He had to change back before he got to the house. Then he would sneak in and get dressed again. He hissed with distress at the thought, but still spun on his heel and raced back. He hesitated in the trees, glancing at the house. Then he headed further in, just enough to block the sight of it.

It was painful how easily this time he managed to change. The physical ache was almost nothing more than a faint pulsing. He was so frantic in his need to get away that he did not even truly think straight. Instead he ran for the house again. Despite being naked he did not think twice.

The grip on the pipe was harder to keep this time. He struggled to pull himself up. His feet slipped. He had never considered how much traction his sneakers gave him. He cringed.

He would need to get new sneakers too.

He shook it off, then quickly pulled himself up and onto the roof. He was amazed that Yami did not respond to him in any way. But then, it didn't look as if he was in there in the first place. Yugi huffed as he pulled the window open.

He supposed that was actually a good thing. That gave him time to think, didn't it? He pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. When he stepped over the sill and into the room, he latched the window behind him. A strange smell came to his nose. Immediately he stopped short, eyes wide and confused. What was that? He did not even fully have the proper words to describe it.

It was coppery, metallic, heavy, slight, airy, with a deep chill as its most powerful tone. He blinked and looked around.

But even as he did, an alarm went off in his head.

Yugi turned just in time to see.

He was knocked flat on his stomach in seconds. A long and loud breathing caused hot air to flare over his skin. He blinked wide eyes, then glanced towards the only other that could be there.

The wolf was sniffing rapidly, nose working in heavy strokes of hot air. He paced about the length of him, scanning every inch of the back of Yugi's body. Then hot calloused skin touched his flank. It wrapped around, long claws digging into his skin. He was flipped before he could think straight.

The sniffing continued. Every inch of his body was assaulted with hot air. The wolf didn't even notice him quiver or blush. He went the length of his torso to his shoulder and then paused. He continued sniffing, long and slow, and his ears flicked about for a moment.

Abruptly the black wolf lowered his head and jaw, then rubbed against him. He tilted his entire body to the side. And he trailed the length of him in a rough quasi-roll kind of movement. He twitched and squirmed, moving his shoulders against his chest.

He tipped his nose up and pressed it into Yugi's chin. The small teen wiggled, nearly writhing. The wolf's frame was bulky and strong and knocked the wind out of him each time he put his body into such movement.

Finally Yami moved away as if satisfied. He took a seat a couple of inches away from him. His red eyes were cautious. His lip was curled faintly. His head was tilted. His brows were drawn forward. His paws looked enormous on the floor for a moment. He appeared perfectly calm but altogether flustered as well. The two of them looked at each other for a moment.

Yugi finally drew himself into a seated position. "Are we done?" he grumbled, breathless.

But he was also confused and more than slightly concerned.

What had made Yami react like that? He had never done anything like it before. And why was he even a wolf at the moment?

He blinked and furrowed his brows. He had never turned into a wolf in his house before, had he? He thought he would remember that, wouldn't he?

"Yami, what's wrong?"

The wolf huffed, then got to his feet. He trotted past him, a blur of black, and headed into the bathroom. The door clicked shut behind him and Yugi flushed. Yami had rolled all over him like that…while he was naked.

He blushed harder, then scrambled to his feet. He tore into his drawers to grab some boxers and socks. Then he snatched at some jeans and wiggled his hips frantically to squeeze them over his legs. In his alarm his hands were shaking too hard to make the task go smoothly. When he brought out a shirt and threw it on, he swore he nearly tore it trying to get his head through a sleeve.

Flustered, the blue-violet-eyed teen turned around again only to startle and jump like a cat. Yami was mere inches away, standing perfectly still. His breathing was so slow it was almost completely silent. And his eyes were dark, alert and vicious with something he could not entirely read. Yugi quickly looked away and then stiffened at the sight that greeted him.

His hands were covered in blood. No doubt his mouth was as well. He wondered about his shoulder. But when he glanced at it, he found himself blushing again. He had forgotten he was dressed again.

"I'm okay," he said quietly, raising his eyes to the other teen's. Yami stared at him, silent and almost ghostly in the way he seemed to see through him as well. Yugi bristled faintly at the sensation, though he was unsure why. He did not understand his own reaction at the moment, whether it was the fact that he was truly looking at him with absolute focus or the way he had knocked him over minutes before.

The other teen merely stared at him for a long minute, the seconds passing in agonizing slowness. Yugi pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth. The two of them continued to look at each other. Finally the smaller boy turned away, picking at invisible lint on his shirt in desperation.

Yami remained statuesque, eyes still locked on his form. There was something unusual and dark when he looked up again, however, and it was still unrecognizable to the other boy. Yugi felt as if his insides were squirming as he glanced at him once more. His heart began to hammer, his mouth growing dry.

"You need more peanut butter," the other wolf said suddenly, in a brusque tone. Yugi's eyes widened and his head snapped up but Yami was no longer looking at him. His eyes were on the window and his cheeks were faintly reddened. For a heartbeat neither of them moved nor spoke any further. Then the taller growled, "And I'm going hunting. Don't wait up."

Yugi flushed and opened and closed his mouth. Was it obvious that he had sometimes waited up for him? He could not truly remember doing so beyond the first time he had wandered off and returned with the rabbit or when they had both suffered that nightmare together.

But, had both those times been so terribly obvious to him?

He watched him as he started towards the window, fingers working at the locks and grasping the bottom to slide it up. He blinked and a swell of desperation, abrupt and powerful, made him seek his attention further.

"There's a pack of wolves in the woods who know I'm Atem!"

The words were blurted.

And the effect they had was instant.

Yami spun on him, teeth bared, eyes boring into his harshly. His lips curled back further, his voice rumbling up with a faint snarl.

"I ran into them a few minutes ago… T-the leader—I think she's the leader—called me Code Name Atem. She said I have the blood of the gods in my veins—"

"You saw the pack in the mountains?" he spat, cutting him off efficiently. The air seemed swollen like a balloon with too much water in it. He was unsure if Yami might lose his temper once and for all. If he lashed out, Yugi did not know that he could win. He stumbled back a step, startled by the ferocity, and the taller boy scowled at him for a long minute. "You stupidly crossed paths with the pack in the mountains?"

"I didn't mean to—W-why is it such a big deal?"

"Why is it such a big deal that you went and made contact with a pack of psycho wolves who think of Atem as some otherworldly creature meant to be a 'deliver the lycanthropes'? Oh, yes, forgive me for being wary of a group which spreads stories of Atem as if he is a glorified messiah! Do you plan to make contact with the gods, to grant the rest of our subspecies immortality and give us truth and eternal happiness? Do you plan to 'bless' us, Code Name Atem?"

Yugi felt his eyes widen drastically, his mouth opening and closing stupidly. He stared at him, frozen in place with shock, and then backed up another step. This time Yami advanced on him, snarling low in his throat.

"They think that Code Name Atem is some kind of glorified savior. They think he is meant to lead a war against the humans and put the wolves at the top of the food chain again. The others think it will be hellhounds that they will fight against. The truth, however, is that Atem is nothing more than a glorified wolf which they stake their dreams on. Though, for what purpose, I do not know. And you are a fool if you think them sane or a good choice to remain around."

He blinked and shook his head slightly. Yami turned abruptly from him, threw the window open, and was gone before he could draw in another breath. Yugi stared at the space he had once been, eyes wide, head spinning.

---

He was alone and the bed was frigid with his absence. Yugi stretched his arms out, then his legs, bunched them up once, and got to his feet. The window in front of him was open only slightly. He sighed softly, picking out a dirty shirt and jeans, tossing the window open, and grabbed his shoes.

He climbed out onto the roof, where the snow seemed feet high with the gentle slant, and then moved towards the edge. The world below was perfect white, safe for the barest print of shoes beneath the snow flurry that must have come and passed. He frowned, then shook his head to throw off the sense of frustration that came with the sight of them and the height of the jump. He had not noticed before just how nervous it made him, to plummet even those twelve feet.

He shook it off, then leaped. The snow fell so gently that it was almost like a pillow beneath his weight, but the sound of it in his ears was like a clap of thunder. He straightened, then looked around slowly, and made his way towards the trees. He followed the tracks in a strange mimicry of the wolf under his skin. He was stepping into Yami's footprints without even thinking, eating the distance between them, and when his shoes turned to paw prints and he found his clothes bunched in the knot of some tree roots that were relatively dusted of snow.

Yugi hummed, then strained his eyes for the lighter formation of those paw prints. He didn't pause from following, however, instead slowly moving out through the shadows of the branches overhead. They were long, silver skeletal fingers reaching outwards to great lengths. They made his prints easier to see, however, highlighting them in shadow, while the moonlight made them so white they were nearly blinding. He hummed again, the noise gentle and low, and then glanced about himself slowly.

Yami had begun running at some point. He'd cleared distances with huge leaps, as if he had just begun bounding with immense speed. Yugi sighed, but continued to follow the tracks. Most of them were highlighted by his body leaping and landing into the snow that was too deep to cushion his ascent. So he could pick out his movements much easier.

The small teen smiled faintly as he spotted the large black canine. His body was stretched out on the snow, lying with his limbs long and gangly in front of him. His nose was to the snow, his claws twitching even in the darkness. His eyes were glowing and his breathing was easy as he watched something in front of him. He was extremely relaxed right before he jumped to his feet and sprang forward.

Yugi just barely spotted the gray rabbit which was attempting to run from Yami. It darted forward in the snow, barely leaving a print, but the canine caught it effortlessly. He grabbed it around the scruff, dangling it in the air. It kicked its feet and squirmed pathetically but the wolf did not release, instead pacing forward several feet and dropping to his belly again. He placed it between his paws, putting one leg over its back and pushing it down into the snow.

Not once did he bite it again. Instead he kept his paw there, holding it down, and did not so much as blink. His ears flicked in his direction with slight dismissal but the red-eyed wolf did not glance at him. His eyes were on the trees, even as he kept the petrified rabbit in place.

Yugi came forward slowly, listening to the harsh racket of that tiny rabbit's heart. Then he looked at Yami who flicked an ear at him again in some form of dismissive acknowledgment. Steadily the small teen continued forward, then took a seat a few feet away. The snow chilled him and he hissed, but the noise was minimal and the discomfort passing. His body had begun to heat itself up, to correct the chill he felt. He wondered if soon his skin would end up burning hot and feverish.

Very slowly the wolf removed his paw. The rabbit sprang away a moment or two later. Yami put his head on his paws and watched as it began to put distance between them. Very quickly the wolf got to his feet and tore after it. Again the prey animal was knocked to the snow, then pinned and pressed with a paw. The canine yawned and then glanced slowly over at him. He lifted his paw once more and the rabbit raced away again.

Yugi offered him a small smile and kept himself seated there, eyes glued to the dark wolf who merely stared in response. They watched each other for a moment, studying one another, and the red-eyed canine flicked an ear once more. The rabbit was almost out of the small clearing. He glanced at it as its tail vanished over the edge of a small slope of snow.

Still Yami did not give chase. His eyes were on Yugi, locked and boring into him, and his body was as relaxed as it had been when he'd come upon him in the first place. The wolf slowly rose to his feet a few minutes later, then took off first in a trot and then in a run.

The small boy considered getting up, then shook such a thought away. Yami would return to the clearing. He was not sure of how he knew, just that he did. So he remained there and, sure enough, the wolf appeared like smoke from the northern direction, coming forward through the trees like the darkness itself.

He was slow in his movements, eyes dark and distant, and the rabbit dangled from his jaws limply, appearing almost lifeless. But it also seemed to be an entirely different rabbit this time. It was dark brown, with a white underbelly. Even the ears were different, one floppy and the other erect. It twitched singularly as he dropped it and took a seat behind it. When it sprang away Yami let it go.

He did not follow it even when twenty minutes had passed. The red-eyed wolf was silent and motionless for several minutes longer. Then he turned his head and stared at him, gaze sharp, ears pricked, muzzle tipped towards him. With his usual powerful grace the wolf got to his feet and began to make his way towards him. He stopped a yard away, head tilted, and inquired, Do you not have school tomorrow morning?

Yugi blinked wide eyes, startled by the statement, and then tilted his head in confusion. They looked at each other, for so long the small teen felt his head might spin. The small teen bit his lip and shook his head slightly as he muttered, "Yeah, I do…"

Then we should leave, yes?

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, probably," he murmured softly. He slowly got to his feet, feeling small and estranged as they looked at each other.

As they moved about the woods, there was only the sound of their feet on the snow, their weight crushing it downwards. The red-eyed wolf remained silent for a long minute, then, with obvious displeasure, he slowed and came to a stop. Yugi only noticed a few seconds later, when the sound reached his ears that Yami was no longer moving alongside him.

Heart racing, his head immediately filled with the thought that Yami had left, he spun on him.

Eyes wide and dilated with his mounting fear, the small teen halted.

A few feet away, head down, eyes on the snow, the wolf stood. His face was tipped towards the ice, his ears pricked. His tail was straight, laying limply. His expression was nothing short of forlorn or perhaps completely distressed. When he shuddered, his dark fur bristled and fell in a rapid wave.

I do not think the pack is stable.

He shivered. His tone now, small and exhausted, was even more powerful than his anger earlier. But he wished so badly for that surge of strength and disgust, of frustration, which had colored his tone before. He would have given anything to hear that intense passion coat his voice.

The wolf did not raise his head and Yugi felt sick for a moment. "Why?" he finally asked, frowning when Yami did not respond. The wolf merely raised his head, breathing out long and hard from between his incisors, and stared at him. He seemed at first to consider speaking. Then he very easily looked away and continued to move forward again. He ignored the way that the small teen faltered and then very reluctantly began to follow him.

Yami had no words for him, even when he changed back and Yugi ducked his head and covered his face with his hands after accidentally glancing at him when he was still naked. He shook his head and looked at him, flushed, as the red-eyed lycanthrope finally began to walk again.

The smaller teen paused only long enough to consider his next words, but his voice never gave them life. As he looked about himself once and then turned towards Yami again, the red-eyed wolf was still walking steadily ahead of him. With his departing form so went his idea to speak to him. His eyes flickered away to the snow, his face flushed with frustration. He sighed softly and the noise made Yami pause just long enough to allow him to get to his side.

But he could not bring himself to speak to him again. He put his hands in his pockets, head down, eyes on the snow. His head was spinning with confusion. Now that he was fully awake, he could not help but wonder.

What was the purpose of Code Name Atem?

Had Shizuka been right in saying he was meant to end a war between the lycanthropes and hellhounds?

Or was what Yami claimed the pack believed, with Atem to lead them against the humans, truly what he was meant for?

Was he simply meant to bring death to those around him, like Valon had claimed?

Was there a purpose to his existence?

Or was it some kind of mistake?

Had the gods blessed him as some kind of mistake?

Yami glanced at him sideways as they made it across the street and into the yard. Their eyes were locked on each other for a moment. The silent discontent was clear in the red gaze but Yugi could not sort his own curious swirl of immense emotion. He could not tell if he was winded or excited to go back to bed or if something beyond it lingered deep within his bones.

He wished Yami would speak. But he also wished he never would.

He hoped to listen to his heart beating against the dark silence of the snowy night. But he also hoped the wet twisting sound of it was lost to him. He desired nothing more than to sleep with the other beside him, even when he knew they both started to scoot unconsciously closer in their dreams. He desired the sensation of sleeping in his bed alone, without another soul beside him, even when Yami rested on the comforter rather than beneath it.

Yami eyed him for only a moment longer. Then he turned, grabbed the drain pipe, and began to climb the wall of the house. Yugi licked his lips, looking up at him, and then grabbed the metal himself, working his way up a couple of inches behind him. They were back in his room and starting to get settled again before a few minutes had passed. But he found himself flinching pitifully when he saw Yami take his place in the corner as he himself snuggled beneath his sheets comfortably.

The distance between them was painful and his heart ached at the very thought. He squeezed his eyes shut and ran a single hand through his hair before forcing himself to sink more pointedly into his pillow. He could hear the softest whistle of an exhale each time Yami breathed but he knew from how uneven it was that he was still wide awake. He wondered if he too was caught in the idea of what it would mean to be Code Name Atem, what the purpose was for such an unnatural creature.

Yugi slipped uneasily into sleep, head aching dully as he struggled to escape the darkness of his eyelids. The world was a splotchy red, then a darker shade of maroon which began to grow darker until it was swallowed by blackness once more. From within the darkness came shallow pools of white, budding and opening like the petals of elegant flowers. Within the white came shallow strokes of silver, of gray, all of which started out like smoke and then began to take vague forms.

Before him the world opened into a mass of white and silver and gray. Ribbons of blue and purple, of red laced with violet and heavy touches of gold, began to weave their ways forward. In the silver and gray the bare branches of trees reaching upwards into the sky began to take more prominent form. Stars twinkled with brilliant flashes of gold, speckles of white against a sky glorious with brushstrokes of silver and gray, of gold and red-violet, royal blue and indigo. The branches were of nothing but silver outlines, fading into the starlight and glistening with soft strength. The moon was immense, a brilliant eye of white and gray, boring down on him in this expanse of forest. He blinked and looked about himself, feeling small and forlorn despite the beauty of such a luminescent world. This time he recognized the cores of the trees, where they seemed to pulsate at the roots with stars of gold and cobalt. Their skeletal frailty was elegant, beautiful, and it dazzled him, but it also alarmed him.

He had seen these woods before. He had been within the gentle sway of their ghostly formations before. When Pegasus had injected him with the poisonous mixture of wolfsbane and silver, he had been there. He shivered and a small tremor of white mist began to creep forward, a formless but somehow powerful shape of shimmering shadows. It came within feet of him, slow and long in process, and then very elegantly began to separate and twist into a true definitive form.

The mist vibrated with a pulse of gold, moving outwards with every second, until the vapor was all one solid color. Then, with a piercing tranquility, two orbs of dark solid blue came before him, almond in shape and standing at his same height. The mist smoothed away, the shadows forcing it back, until the dark blue was rimmed by black. A beautiful, sleek, sharp face of brilliant gold like the shade of the sun, began to appear first. Then solid, soft curves of deep fur came in gentle grooves inches outwards, with a muzzle long and large with a sharp nose and black lips.

The ears were rounded, larger than he knew his own to be. The slope of the skull was almost nonexistent, and the width of its chest as it was revealed seemed twice as large as his. The legs were longer, spindly, with immense paws the size of two of his fists placed side by side. The scent which came to him was a river of intense and brutal sensory which made his head spin.

Instinctively he knew it to be otherworldly. It was starlight and water, of fresh snow and drifting waves, of mountain peaks and falling leaves. It was so strong as to knock him off his feet when he inhaled too deeply.

And he realized, as he had the place around them, that the she-wolf—for he could smell she was female, though he hardly recognized it—was just as ethereal. She stood, in some bizarre yet elegant presence, with such grace that it furthered her beauty. Despite her strange appearance, her apparent disproportioned form before him, she was a wolf that possessed great strength and beauty beyond even the world around them.

Yugi was breathless as he looked at her, eyes wide and startled. Her eyes were a similar shade of blue to his, but with an edge of strength and identity which his own had always lacked. Her gaze was sharper, clearer, than his own had ever been, and the way it tore into him made his heart skip and his body feel abnormally hot.

She smelled faintly like Yami, as if the edges of her scent reflected upon his. The white wolf opened his mouth, breathing out in something almost like awe, and then lowered his eyes. An intense wave of shame and confusion touched his frame, burning inside of him, and he closed his eyes tightly. It felt it a crime to look at the she-wolf as he had moments before.

You seek answers, she murmured, a rough voice like pebbles falling from immense height, laced with the gentleness of leaves brushed over one's skin.

Answers?

His head was spinning. He opened his eyes and raised his eyes to hers again. Their gazes locked, he felt it impossible to look away again.

Was he looking for answers? Were answers even something he desired any longer?

He was not sure that they meant anything to him any longer. Answers were something that he stumbled upon, but was not fed. Yami let him find his ground on his own, but guided him as well through the process. He pushed him gently towards answers but did not truly give them to him. And if he did, it always felt that something was left out.

Clever Yugi. We all speak in half-truths, don't we? the wolf snickered, the sound of a saw grating against stone and water trickling over budding leaves. She stood before him, a good inch or two taller than himself, and possibly even Yami. The sight of her, with her strange but regal face, her unusual eyes, made his belly ache. Do you know who I am, my dear child?

His eyes were wide, confused, as he considered her and shook his head slowly. How should he know? She was unusual but he was not sure of anything concerning her or truly anyone else. He hardly knew much about Yami and he was the one who shared his room at all times.

I am Ra.

He stared at her, uncertain for a moment. Ra was an Egyptian god, wasn't he? That was the name of one of their primary creators. He remembered reading about it in class. He shook his head again, eyes widening further.

I am one of the goddesses, Yugi, a guardian of the lycanthropes. I am the one to breathe life in the lungs of those who stand on the precipice. I give to the lycanthropes survival and birth. She stared at him, eyes sharp and intense, and slowly took a step forward. I am the mother, the sister, the end and the beginning.

Yugi nearly flinched backwards with disgust. She had been the one to bless him, to allow him to be born. His head was spinning again as he turned away once more. She had been the one to allow the humans to breed him into existence. She had allowed all of those wolves to be experimented on, to be taken captive and killed and harmed endlessly.

You wished for answers and I have come to give you some.

He bore his teeth in a soft snarl, disgusted.

How dare she attempt to provide to him something he was still struggling so heavily with.

How dare she attempt to fix the horrors of her decisions with such simplicity.

My guidance to you is this, nothing more and nothing less. You must look to the wolf, Yugi. And it will come to you. The wolf will guide you.

When he looked up again, about to speak, flakes of snow fluttered through the air outside the window.