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.

73. Lifetimes

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

Update schedule: Hopefully biweekly

Chapter Warnings: Torture, Bloodshed, Death, Experiments, Mild Puzzleshipping, Hunting

So! Some of Atem's history gets revealed this chapter. It's mostly things already covered in the work log entries. But it also includes something that isn't in there. And that point will be expanded on later.

On a completely different note, I'm working on editing the older chapters around editing/posting the newer ones and writing the rest. I'm going to try to get to the point that I can start updating again every other week, so about every other set of days off. That way I can try to commit to a more regular schedule again. And hopefully when I get to that point, I can start putting up the edited chapters the same day as I post the new ones. Edits shouldn't impact the rate that I post the newer chapters though, hopefully. And edits shouldn't impact the storyline whatsoever. I'm just tidying things up. I realized a few months ago that I probably should in order to get back on track with some of the other events and characters in part six. So! Yeah, that's the plan. I'm going to work to get back on that schedule. 74 might not be cooperative with that, though, because I have a ton of edits and tweaks that need to go into it.

Anyways, hopefully the length of this chapter makes up for the other two shorter ones before it. Chapters after 80 are increasingly long, as part six is when EVERYTHING starts to get even crazier. So if they take a little longer to go up, that's why.

Chapter LXXIII: Lifetimes

Work Log Entry LXV: July, 2008

July 27

The boss has decided that one more experiment is meant to be used on Atem.

He has come to the conclusion that it is necessary to deconstruct his mind and attempt to put it back together again. He wants to see if there are any lasting effects on a Pure-Blood put through such an experiment.

The other wolves all lost their minds. They became unstable and extremely unhealthy.

It clawed every last ounce of compassion from them and saw to what they became after that.

They were nothing of what they used to be, husks of creatures that didn't quite know how to survive let alone fend for themselves in any manner.

All fifty wolves died.

Atem is to be put through these experiments in a month.

Welcome.

Yugi bristled as he padded forward into the snow. It was soft and mushy beneath his paws but it delivered a vibrant crunch in his ears. The white wolf hesitated, glancing over his shoulder, and peered into the trees further behind him. Their bases were threaded with silver and their bark looked smooth and illuminated by golden with a woven design amidst the cracks of them almost akin the core of a spider's web.

The sky overhead harbored no clouds and the darkness seemed speckled with stars of a bright white core and golden tails like flames. The tree branches faded into nothingness here, shimmering into nonexistence where the silver of their outlines disappeared. The air was cold and crisp but, as he looked around again, no mist formed before his muzzle and Yugi considered the darkness of the cobalt shadows cast about him once more.

Why am I here? he asked softly. And why isn't Obelisk here?

Obelisk did not wish to attend. The she-wolf smiled at him, golden eyes burning with laughter. I would not be attending either, had it not been for the fact that I chose to tell Yami of the proof he needed to convince the pack. I meddled and now Ra has demanded that I be here to answer your questions.

You told him? Yami said it was Ra.

He also said he did not remember the dream, the russet-furred wolf said dismissively. She shook her head. Whether he chooses to admit to things or not is his own choice, I suppose. It is free will which is the gift of the mortals, after all. It only makes sense that such a thing be exercised as desired.

You say that as if you don't have any free will of your own.

I do not have it in the same way that you do, Slifer answered. She glanced at her sister beside her but Yugi did not do the same. He did not think he could face her at the moment. She had to be disappointed in him. She'd saved him from Marik before and now she was watching him fall back into his old patterns of relying on Yami too much. She was bearing witness to his loss of capability. And no doubt she had to wonder why she had bothered to save him. Fuck, Yami had to wonder that at some point as well, he was sure. Free will for a god is dictated by a great many things and often it might seem as if we have a will of our own, but the balance must be kept. And to do so, we have strict rules to follow.

Oh?

You must come closer, Yugi, Slifer said with a flick of her ear. She gestured simply with her nose towards the river beside them. We have something to show you.

Show me? he muttered, unsure of himself. He did not think he wanted to get so close. He hesitated, uncertain as she peered back at him so calmly. He could not recall the last time he had felt such dread in his belly in this huge a lump before. But it made him anxious as he looked slowly towards Ra as well. What are you planning to show me?

Why speak about it when we can simply show you instead? the golden she-wolf said dismissively, flicking an ear. Her voice took on a snide edge, one full of mocking laughter. You should look at the water, Yugi. It will give you some answers. You've always wanted answers, right?

Answers? he repeated skeptically. A strange mixture of excitement and disbelief surged through him. He peered at her but she seemed more amused than anything as he considered her. Was she truly offering him answers? Or was she simply teasing him? And then, should she be truthful…

Answers to what?

Slifer was quiet for a moment. What do you want to know about the most, Yugi? It is something that you asked me about formerly. Yami did not show any kindness in his response to your inquiry either.

Yugi blinked and glanced between the two of them. Slifer was clearly unhappy, though he did not think it was with what was being done, nor even with his attitude. It bewildered him why she might look at him as she was. And when he glanced over to Ra the other she-wolf was staring at him blankly. She did not seem disappointed in the slightest, something that floored Yugi more than he cared to admit.

He would have been disappointed in their place. Hell, Yugi did not even seem to have his priorities in line as he was meant to. And that was something that unnerved him considerably now as he considered it.

No wonder the wolves saw him as so weak and stupid…

What did he want to know the most? Yugi flicked his ears slowly back and forth, listening to what sounded like paws in the snow. But when he glanced back there was no wolf darting across the ice. And it made him feel small and sick and uncomfortable as he turned back. Where were the other wolves? Why were they not running about and playing as he had seen them do formerly? Why did he not see any familiar faces among the ice? There was only Ra and Slifer before him, the only hint of existence in this terrain of ice.

What was it that he had wanted to know?

What had he asked her about before?

He wracked his brain for the answer. Yami had not reacted happily when he'd asked the question? He considered this a moment. Yami wasn't often happy with anything he asked about, honestly. He liked to dodge away from any inquiries of his time in the labs—for good reason—and he tended to lie and speak in half-truths. Much of the questions Yugi asked were turned away from, in order to keep himself safe. But what was it that he had…?

Yugi blinked. Atem, he realized, a trill of excitement and fear crawling down his spine. You're talking about what happened to Atem.

Slifer nodded slowly, watching him for a moment. Yes, we are talking about what happened with Atem, she said emotionlessly. For once she looked as the epitome of the domain she guarded. Slifer looked almost as if the life might have been drained from her for the moment. She looked absolutely ancient and hollow, as if she had been carved out and forced to still bear her carcass in a presentable manner before him. But we will not tell you what happened. It would be wiser for you to see it.

Yugi blinked and raised his head, confused. See it? he muttered softly. I don't want to see it.

But you're going to have to.

Why? Can't you just tell me?

Tell you? Ra repeated quietly. You do not want to hear us tell you these things. It's not something that you would wish to hear. It is something that you have to see to understand.

Yugi looked between them uncertainly. It'll stop if I ask, right? You won't make me watch longer than I want? he prompted, sounding almost sickened. He felt dizzy for a split second, head spinning with horror. What if it was some kind of trick or a punishment that they wished to use against him? Had he done something so wrong that they wished to lash out at him like that? What if they trapped him there, in those memories of what had happened to him in the labs, while in the outside world the war happened? Had they somehow deemed him too dangerous? He was self-destructive, yes, but—

I don't know if I can do this…

You'll find yourself capable of enduring more than you assumed you could. It is the way of the wolf. We adapt to survive. There is no backing away from the things that might upset us.

Yugi huffed. Oh, yeah, thanks for that Ra.

Slifer was snickering. Come closer to the bank, Yugi, and look into the water.

Can't you do like in movies and just implant it in my head or something?

Slifer snorted loudly, wagging her tail with delight towards the question. We can. But it would kill you. Giving a gift of memories for a minute or a day would be an easy transfer. Your mind would hardly even notice its existence there. But to give you the burden of sixteen years in one moment? It would destroy your mind and thus you soon after.

Yugi frowned. I would come back.

He did not know truly why he was fighting with them like this. He did not understand why in the world it would be better to experience an excruciating death than to simply watch. He guessed it had to do with the idea that it would be faster. They would implant it there and it would scar him mentally but he would be able to see all of it in a split second, understand it and push it away again.

This way it was slower and longer. This way he could pay more attention and see the things he did not want to. This way it would be imprinted in him.

And Yugi did not know if he could survive such a thing. Yami had said the experiments had been horrid, that they had been scarring to simply think of. He had reacted badly to even being asked about them. And Yugi understood why. But he'd still needed to know. He'd still…

He hesitated, glancing between the two of them. And then he slowly made his way towards the bank of the river. It was a few feet away from them and his stomach rolled as the roar of rushing water entered his ears. He shivered and shook himself out. And then he padded closer to the bank still, leaning forward as water spray landed on his face.

The water here was as clear as the sky overhead. He could scarcely see the reflection beyond himself. And the rocks beneath glittered like gems before his eyes. He shivered, confused, and tilted his head. The water ran in a roar but the sound seemed stunted as he came closer still. He was leaning over the edge of the bank, peering into this shallow water without difficulty. And the stones, soft and rounded almost like pebbles, began to all but glow. The reflection of the water where its current slowed and sped and danced about, touching the soft sand beneath his paws and pulling back again, was shimmering as if with starlight.

And then the pebbles began to change color, the water too taking on a similar shade and hue. The formation of it became altered, shifting into something else entirely before his eyes. And Yugi felt almost dizzy as the colors grew immense and blinding and then fell away again with a duller intensity. And, for a long handful of minutes, the image that was forming shook and vibrated, darting to and fro in every direction.

Yugi could not see himself against the image that had begun to appear before it sharpened abruptly. The sound of the river itself became a distant hum, all but disappearing entirely. And, as Yugi watched, the sharpened image became clearer and finally he was staring into something that looked like a fresh video reel.

The image that came to him was unlike anything he'd ever seen before. And it was amazing to him. The boy was small and low to the ground, dressed in odd sky blue clothes, and red booties. Yugi was not sure but he thought that there was no diaper to be seen. But it wasn't the clothing which made him shiver.

The boy, two or perhaps three in this picture, a perfectly human specimen, maybe even the ideal weight for a toddler, was pale and ashen in skin tone with hair as white as snow and eyes as bottomless as an abyss. His lashes were longer, pale blond, and his cheeks were cushioned with baby fat. But it did not offer a rosy hue as some children possessed and Yugi, at first glance, would not be able to tell at all the original ancestral descent for him.

In fact, to his surprise, if one were not knowledgeable of the fact that Atem was male, the baby could have been questionably considered female. It was an odd thought, and not one that Yugi normally would have had, but the human Atem had no defining features in outward appearance to tell his gender.

He was handled with odd whispers, sometimes called a demon and others a curse. A guard, dressed in something pale and sterile white like hospital clothing, would occasionally pass the cage. And the human Atem would barely glance up from whatever toys they had given him to entertain himself with. He would sit in the back of the cage, content to stack blocks that either spelled his name, the word "wolf", or had series of characters in different languages to—Yugi assumed—do the same thing.

Atem was kept stimulated by the use of these blocks and occasionally the brave person willing to come into the cage with him.

But the whispers were constant. And one man in particular seemed to tremble when he came anywhere near the toddler. He would tremble so hard that the metal tray in his hand would rattle rapidly. He fed him regularly, until one day Yugi no longer could see him and only the vet appeared to feed and interact with him. And, when Atem seemed to have settled into a routine of simply eating and playing with the blocks more time than Yugi could measure by the image, there were tests.

The veterinarian would come in. And Yugi only knew him to be the one because he wore a stethoscope around his neck. And he was dressed in dark blue scrubs. He also seemed to be the only one not entirely afraid of Atem. He would crouch down, whispering in a low and soothing tone as if Atem might bite him, and the blank black stare he was rewarded each time probably would have given Yugi the assumption he might lash out in his place as well. But then the toddler would get up, an awkward affair because the cage was too small to do much in and so it did not allow him room to exercise, and pull his shirt up.

The stethoscope would be against his chest a second later and the vet would listen while staring at the wall. And Atem would awkwardly keep this position as long as he could before he'd drop his shirt and try to wander off. The vet would normally snicker, but other times he looked at Atem as if he could not fathom what he was capable of, nor if he might kill him then and there in that small cage.

A small syringe of blood would be drawn—Atem would hold his arm out and never so much as flinched—and the vet would document the time on a notepad. A little work log was entered as well, notes of which Yugi could not quite read because the focus was never on them and the image remained solely on Atem.

This continued for what felt like months.

And then more tests came.

Atem was hooked to a machine to measure his brain waves. He was hooked up for blood pressure monitoring. He was inspected head to toe, stripped naked so that measurements could be taken. It was only ever the vet to perform this, as if he were the only one trusted not to do further than what he was instructed. And he'd have his heart monitored while the vet would open his mouth and look at his teeth and measure each of them.

Sometimes Atem sat through these with ease. Other times he would abruptly get up from his seat and wander away. He'd find something on the floor and play with it while the vet would instruct him to go back and sit down. And they'd have a moment or so of obedience before Atem would wander again. Occasionally when the vet would take the object of his attention away, Atem would follow him on stubby legs, hurrying to keep up, arms outstretched and eyes huge with his need for it its return. Occasionally it was given back. Other times he was made to sit back down with the promise it would be returned to him after.

And then came a new set of experiments.

Shallow cuts were made on the skin and a stopwatch recorded the moment it healed. It was all but instantaneous. And then the next time the cuts were inflicted an inch, then two inches, and finally clear through to the bone. These took longer, a minute at the most when deep enough to hit bone.

And it took a shot of numbing medication and a belt wrapped around Atem's arm for the next test to take place. He looked like a heroin addict with this position, something that made Yugi want almost to vomit upon seeing. And Yugi nearly screamed, horrified, when the vet and several guards put Atem's hand into a machine with such striking power that it slammed down and produced an arm that hung limp and bent at an impossible angle.

Yugi could not be sure if it was the medicine which numbed him impossibly to the point of not feeling it or if Atem simply did not care what had happened. Because the toddler never cried. And, in about a minute, when the splint was placed, Atem was running around and using his arm again. The guards and vet were mystified, as was Yugi himself, but the toddler was using his arm without a fuss. He was even putting his hand in his mouth and chewing on wiggling fingers.

Immediately Atem was taken to a neighboring machine. The splint was removed from his arm and the skin was a hideously discolored mess. It was black at the core, with disgusting purple and red and sharp fragments of bruised yellow in other places. He was instructed to keep his hand still as the machine whirled to life and an x-ray began to show on the screen. Atem was seated there, looking all but exhausted and bored now, as if the healing had taken more out of him than he had been prepared for. And he was almost asleep by the time the vet recovered from the shock of seeing the bones mended together perfectly.

The bruising was the only thing that remained.

And it stayed that way for the month following. They continued tests, heart monitoring, checking and measuring his teeth, checking his blood cell counts and various other things. Atem remained silent throughout, watching with those same inky black eyes, a reflective quality in them showing Yugi more than ever the faces of those who were close to him.

His stomach tossed.

The next time he saw Atem, it was past what Yugi assumed to be his feeding time. Atem was sitting up, looking around unhappily, with an expression that could only be described as bewildered and confused. The toddler pushed his blocks away, waddled over to the door of his cage, looked around uncertainly, sniffed the air a few times, and drooled for a second. Then he moved to sit down, legs spread and arms between them. He sat like this for only a moment or two.

And then he reached down with his fingers curled. He clawed at the polished concrete beneath him first. And when it did not give, he got up and waddled to the far right side of the cage. For a moment he tapped at the wall with his claws, listening intently for some noise that Yugi did not recognize. And it took a full ten minutes of him doing so before he stopped short, tilted his head, and leaned forward to repeat the noise. And, finally, to Yugi's amazement, he struck out against the wall.

His nails chipped and broke from the impact. He was bleeding immediately, the quicks struck violently and split from the force. The blood was a gushing fountain of red and his fingers were stained in an instant. But his initial hit had done enough damage. The wall was cracked. And Atem didn't pay attention to the blood on his fingers when he began clawing and digging at it. The wall chipped away in small chunks of concrete and the finest grains of dirt as miniscule as dust particles.

It took another few minutes for him to claw through the wall entirely. And his hands were soaked red, his fingers stripped raw and bruised from the activity. But while they seemed swollen, as if he'd broken them during his struggles, he did not seem to care. Yugi was struck with the startling realization that his bones had healed instantly once more, and his perception of pain was rather stunted.

His heart was in his throat as the toddler crawled through the hole he had made and waddled away from the damage he'd done. He was on the other side of the small hallway and out into the corner of the little area. Another wolf was laying on its side further down the hall, near the corner of its own cage and farther back than even Atem's was. Atem got to the small room where the bars were thin and not nearly as secured as his own. And he ducked down and reached unhappily for the tray he had obviously smelled earlier.

It took him a minute to make contact with it and then he was pulling it out and to the bars. It hit it, rattled, but would not come through. Atem sat there for a moment, eyeing it. And for a moment Yugi honestly feared he might try to claw the bars apart to get to it. Instead the toddler sat down much as he had before, legs open and hands between them, and began to dig out handfuls of what looked like shredded and ground meat of some kind. It had to have been sitting there for a while, because Atem made a face when he swallowed the first mouthful but quickly overcame that in order to dig into it.

Blood smeared across his mouth from where his nails touched his face and the meat was freshly bleeding as well when Atem hit the bottom of the tray. He had continued to dig at the food until it was no longer there and now he sat looking unhappy but more or less satisfied.

It seemed to take an eternity for anyone to spot him. And it was only because he was wandering and playing with pebbles that he was noticed. He had begun tossing them at the wall, then hurrying to grab them again and repeat the gesture.

He was washed clean after getting caught, the vet inspecting him everywhere as he did so. But he had more or less healed himself and his nails were all but perfect again. The blood washed from them, the only visible disfigurement was bruising colored black and purple.

Atem was moved to another cage to be isolated while repairs were made to his wall. He was given videos to watch, a test kind of thing, which kept him busy and stimulated around playing with blocks and being fed more regularly again.

He remained there for what Yugi guessed was two days. He had to measure the time by way of how many times he was fed, as he was only fed twice a day. Four feedings passed and so Yugi assumed it to be two days.

But they slipped up again soon after. Yugi could not tell if it was on purpose or if somehow they had run late in feeding. But they kept the regular schedule for a day longer. And then they slipped up again.

Yugi watched Atem do as he had before. He sat up abruptly, forgetting entirely his game of stacking blocks. And then he got up, sniffing, waddled to the door of his cage, and looked around unhappily. He looked around uncomfortably, bewildered, and soon headed back to the wall he'd originally clawed his way through.

This time Yugi noticed that there was something like a purple paste, layered between the bricks they had placed to cement the wall again. Atem sniffed at it, considering, and looked incredibly shaken for a moment. And so he wandered away and back, pacing, but now Yugi could see his hands twitching. His mouth was salivating and he looked incredibly unhappy, so much so that he was surprised he did not whine.

Instead, abruptly, the toddler turned back to that wall. He eyed it and, had Yugi not been paying such acute attention, he would not have noticed the small gap between the concrete and the brick. It had been filled with the purple layering but they had failed to cut the concrete into a more rectangular or square shape to fill it properly. No doubt they had assumed that the mixture—and Yugi knew that deathly purple far too well—of wolfsbane would stop him from doing so again.

Or they were messing with him.

It was entirely possible that they'd done it just to see if Atem would be brave enough to break out again when he was so hungry.

And Atem was.

The toddler looked at the wall for a moment, eyeing the darkest purple spot above the layered bricks. And then he leaned forward, sniffed once more, and lifted his hand. He pressed his palm against it, hissed softly, and then punched with his long nails, chipping away at it as he had the first time. It took him longer to do it now than it had the first. And Atem had to stop frequently, fingers cut and bleeding and quicks destroyed from the abuse, to wipe at his clothing. It was interesting to see that he had enough instincts that he did not stuff his fingers into his mouth to stop the burning or heal the bleeding.

Instead he wiped and applied pressure just long enough to stifle it, and began again. He was through the wall, but only after a sickening popping noise burst through the air. Yugi was frozen, horrified, as he noticed Atem standing on the other side, hands soaked and nails nonexistent atop the digits. He was shaking and his left wrist was incredibly swollen. Atem looked as if he were about to cry even as he wiped his hands on his bright blue clothes and surveyed his swollen wrist.

After a while of this, Atem began to waddle away, heading out of the hallway that he occupied—solely his now, Yugi noted, as the other wolf seemed to have passed or healed somehow—and into another branch. He waddled a few yards and turned into another branch once more.

And then he stopped near one of the cages closest to the entrance of this hallway. Atem came to the door, sniffing slowly, and moved to take a seat. The wolf inside of the cage was frozen, startled by the sight of Atem's sudden appearance. They looked bewildered, climbing to their paws after a moment. And then they slowly made their way closer.

Yugi almost expected them to snarl or perhaps for Atem to do so. Instead the wolf took a seat near him and the door, tilting its head, and then came closer still when Atem reached for the tray and struggled pathetically to get at it. His left wrist was so swollen that he could not get it through the bars, however.

The wolf came closer, stopped next to the tray, and then nudged it forward to let Atem get easier access. The toddler plopped down, body language easy and lazy, and reached in for the meat there. But when he reached, the wolf snarled and moved to grab the tray away. Atem froze and the two eyed each other for a moment. Then the wolf came closer, sniffing, and whined softly.

Atem reached his fingers through the bar as if he'd been instructed to do so. And the wolf licked at the broken flesh of the tips of his digits and cleaned them to their satisfaction. They looked sickened afterwards, but satisfied regardless, and slowly nudged the tray forward to him again. Atem immediately dug into the food and the wolf lay on its belly with its chin on its paws.

When Atem was done, the wolf got up again and moved forward to clean his face of the blood there. And then it worked on his fingers again, looking tired and unhappy, crestfallen as if with pity for the toddler.

They found him sitting there with his fingers in the wolf's fur, Atem happily petting the canine while it slept on the other side of the metal bars. They separated them almost immediately, the wolf startled so terribly that it yelped and fled to the back of the cage. Atem was grabbed into the vet's arms and taken back to another room. The walls were littered with surgical tools and an x-ray machine which was used immediately on Atem's wrist as he was given a numbing drug for the pain that the toddler was clearly still in.

The fracture was large, almost a complete break of his entire wrist, the joint all but dispatched from the initial bones. Yugi wanted to vomit. But the vet went about making a splint and then a cast and set him down to play with some blocks again. Atem was clearly frustrated with this new bandaging, however, as he would constantly knock his blocks over and glare at it as if it offended him.

Atem was fed about four times a day for a while, Yugi noted. And his wrist was taken out of his cast about three times and x-rays redone. Each one showed the same hideous fracture. But none of them quite looked as if it had grown worse.

And so Atem was eventually allowed to leave the clinical room. He was taken, oddly, away from the direction of his cage, instead to another area entirely and Yugi was shocked to see that there were wolves in this area. It was a small room, with only about four wolves in it. But all of them seemed startled when the toddler was brought in.

The vet was nearby. And Yugi noticed, horrified, that a few of the guards stood nearby with rifles trained on the other four. He could not tell if it was with tranquilizers or true bullets with the intention of killing them. Instead, sickened, he watched as Atem approached them awkwardly and on fumbling feet.

The reaction was instant. One wolf bristled, sniffing, and then slowly relaxed. The other three whined, heads lowered, and wagged their tails. When Atem got within reach, the other three began to lick at his face and nuzzle him. The fourth awkwardly lay down after a moment and moved to sniff him. A few seconds passed before they gently grabbed at his shirt and pulled him closer, allowing him to settle on their paws.

They were treating him as a pup, Yugi realized. He knew that wolves accepted puppies immediately, that usually they were taken in and went unharmed even in territory wars. They would give him all of their attention. They would allow him to pull on their fur and snuggle into them. He even got away with biting one of their ears while the wolf pretending to be harmed, yipping and wagging its tail happily. It was lazy and easygoing.

And the vet allowed the toddler to remain there for a while. And then, finally, he took Atem up, telling him he was going to get some food when Atem tried to struggle out of his grip, and left the room. The guards followed soon after and Atem was watching the other wolves with a miserable expression.

Atem was fed. And Yugi could not measure the time that passed. But he guessed it was a few days as he was only given a couple of hours to watch videos once a day. And it took a little while for any change of things to happen.

Atem was taken again to meet with some wolves. This time the group was far bigger. There were at least twenty, perhaps more, but the focus was so fully on Atem that he could not tell.

And, as Atem was let go to meet them, the toddler hurried over to one wolf in particular. It was a soft gray color, with splashes of brown along the face and eyes of dark brown that almost looked black in the shadows. He waddled over and plopped down immediately and the brown and gray male wagged his tail lazily, leaned forward, and licked at his face happily.

The second wolf to come near him was a dark brown male with a strange tawny undercoat. The muzzle was softer brown and the bottom splashed with some white to spread along his chest and underbelly. He came cautiously, perplexed by Atem's presence, and sniffed at the toddler with a bewildered expression to his icy blue eyes. When he seemed satisfied that Atem was not a threat to him, he took a seat and wagged his tail slightly.

And, soon after, came a smaller darker gray wolf with a splash of brown across his muzzle. His ears were a bright russet color and his cheeks were a bit darker than the rest of him, black where they touched his ears. His brows and stops were bright white and his eyes were a soft gray with silver specks.

He was not as cautious as the brown wolf had been. He came hurriedly, sniffing rapidly, and then moved to butt the toddler in the belly. Atem grabbed at his scruff with clumsy fingers, looking all the more overjoyed with it all.

The three of them settled to let Atem pet them as much as he wished. And Atem cuddled them lazily, snuggling into the largest male's flank and falling asleep soon after.

After this Yugi was not sure how much time passed. But Atem had grown older, though no more developed than he had been before. He was taller and his limbs a little longer. But he was not any different from a usual four-year-old; Yugi could not be sure of the age exactly. But he assumed him to be this old. He did not seem to be any older than that, after all…

The gray and brown male had fallen ill. Yugi noticed this because Atem looked perplexed and alarmed by it. And, when another wolf wandered too close, sniffing and curious, the child would lash out. He'd struck out and drawn blood with his nails, though he never made noise and simply glared and showed his teeth. The wolves would back away with bewildered expressions, clearly unnerved and unwilling to challenge what they assumed to be a pup among them.

Yugi watched Atem fed about twelve more times and so assumed that it had been six days. And Atem was taken, on this sixth day, to the clinical room. He was swabbed on his arm with alcohol, then pricked with a needle for blood to be drawn. He was washed clean where the needle had punctured him, and Yugi could see that the wound was closed long before the vet even handed him a drink to get his blood sugar up again.

Another handful of days passed and the brown and gray wolf seemed, oddly, to have recovered. Yugi noticed now that his right leg had been shaved down and there were various needle puncture wounds that had not healed over as of that moment.

It was not the gray and brown wolf to pass away. Yugi was not sure how much time had passed. But the chocolate and white and tawny wolf had become sick and later so ill he could hardly move. Atem sat there with him much of the time, unmoving except to slash with curled fingers at any wolf to come too close.

Soon after, Yugi witnessed the darker gray male with the silver and gray eyes pass. He was lying near Atem when it happened and Yugi was surprised to realize that they had not seen Atem taken away from them to be returned to his own cage at any point. It was something that startled him, as he had been sure that Atem had always been isolated...

Again Yugi was at a loss as to how much time had passed. But when he saw Atem again, he was taller but no less pale and his black eyes were just as strange and relentlessly reflective as they had been before. But his hair was a lot more apparent, white and shaggy and overlooking his eyes like bangs.

But Atem seemed to be in a strange predicament. For whatever reason Atem seemed to be far more cautious and rather aggressive. It was strange to see the change in him, almost as if a switch had gone off in his head. His former innocence was not quite there anymore.

But it did not seem as if something of importance had happened, as he knew the gods would never have allowed him to miss anything that might have gotten away from his usual routine.

And now, he noticed, the Pure-Blood looked almost haunted or perhaps more tired and annoyed than anything else. He looked cautious as well, and perhaps more than slightly gaunt. He could not imagine that the six-year-old was meant to look like this. Because his cheeks were slightly sunken and one could see the cheekbones against his skin, the baby fat all but stripped entirely.

But he was still well groomed. His hair was shiny and silky rather than greasy in any manner. His nails were perfect, blood red and tipped with white. His fingers were shorter, almost stubby for the moment. And he was dressed in something akin scrubs, but they were immaculate and white now. And his shoes were a pair of white sneakers.

It was odd seeing this, as it made Atem almost look as if he were nothing but a ghost. And Yugi felt sick seeing this, as he appeared strange and weird and gauntly.

But Atem was not the only one to look this way. Even with the long and fluffy cheeks, the wolves that Yugi could see looked starved and weak as well. They looked tired, anxious, and there was an immense hunger which burned in their eyes.

Atem was escorted to the wolves and took a seat near the gray and brown canine as usual. The male was small and gangly now, his fur more weight than Yugi considered the rest of his body to be. Yugi shivered. And Atem looked unsure as he sat there. The two of them seemed well-acquainted for the most part, though they also looked flustered and annoyed. The hunger was clear in their eyes as well.

The starvation was not as terrible between them as it was for the other wolves, it seemed. And Yugi nearly vomited as he was proven right. The gray and brown wolf was chosen as a weak link among the pack. A she-wolf crept around from behind as Atem was messing with his sneakers. And Yugi was not sure if it was hunger which made the two of them weak in their senses. But it was enough to make them all but deaf to her approach.

Atem noticed a second too late. The male was screaming, flailing and struggling against the teeth in his throat. And the rush of wolves that came immediately after were much alike the hellhounds that had attacked them in the woods. They came in a rush. And it was amazing how violently they began to attack. Blood sprayed the air, the screaming several times louder. The gray and brown male was shaken and his limbs grabbed when he was thrown on his back. The force of the pulling the wolves partook in was almost enough to break the bones entirely. He could hear them popping.

But he also could see that Atem was not human anymore. It was a small gray wolf, thin and emaciated, but it attacked the nearest canine violently. The gray and brown wolf was dropped, lifeless but body still intact, as the wolves turned to face this new threat. Atem was hardly the size of a yearling, biting at them and snapping so violently that they backed away in a panic.

Atem caught one in the shoulder, then bit at their flank. The force behind the initial attack was enough to break the shoulder. They collapsed and struggled to attempt to rise again on their shattered limbs. But they were unable to stand and Atem was not the one to kill them.

The pack of wolves in question that had come to attack the brown and gray male had turned on it. And they were screaming as Atem backed up with a horrified expression and stared in bewilderment. The wolves tore into each other violently, blood and fur flying and teeth snapping hideously. Bones were broken and shattered. Teeth chomped almost violently enough to break.

And Atem stood there, shaking and shuddering. For a long handful of seconds, he hovered. And then he sprang at another near him when they almost stepped onto the deceased wolf behind him. He tore at their scruff and scrambled for his footing. He was shaken off but not without drawing blood and landing hard.

The fighting grew to a point that was too rapid for Yugi to keep up with. But when it stopped, Atem was standing amongst the corpses of the wolves which remained there. They were bleeding still, and the puddle which spread outwards soaked Atem's paws. He looked exhausted and more than slightly fearful. When he turned around and faced the wolf he had attempted to protect, there was a long single minute of which he stared.

And then he lowered his head, tucked his tail between his legs, and whined long and low. His ears folded back against his head and he trembled, horrified as the whites of his eyes showed. He trembled pitifully for several long minutes and then he turned tail.

He refused his food both feedings.

And then he went through a seizure which seemed to shake his entire cage with the force of it, becoming human again. He was too exhausted afterwards to move again and lay on his side, unconscious and with blood flowing from his mouth.

The vet found him, cleaned him up, dressed him, and gave him a medication Yugi assumed had to be for the shock he had gone through. Atem did not say a word to him, staring blankly at the teenager who checked on him often and eventually went about feeding him and giving him a small reprieve from his experiments.

The experiments became games instead, with guards and the vet playing at the task of teaching him to recognize visual commands. They taught him to back up the moment a hand came up, to sit down if they folded their fingers. He watched silently when they did this, doing as they had taught him and never once questioning it.

It got to the point that Atem backed away into the far wall of his cage when the guards or vet approached to feed him.

A brain scan was done on him later, though Yugi did not know what they were searching for. He himself had no experience with brain scans. But Atem did not seem to know either. Regardless, whatever it was that they were looking for, they seemed rather satisfied. The scan came out looking as healthy as Yugi would have assumed his to come out now.

When the scan was finished, blood was drawn. Skin was cut with a scalpel to measure his healing ability. He was measured and weighed and his pulse checked. He was then cut again and again, the vet recording every instance of healing, until eventually Atem was simply stared at blankly and with clear uncertainty.

Yugi was startled and bewildered when a new face approached Atem soon after this event. The man was tall, thin and emaciated. He looked like raw muscle despite this, powerful regardless of the illness Yugi swore he saw in him. His eyes were oddly dark and dull, set behind a mask of shiny black and gray and blue. It looked like a masquerade mask, but for the feathers and the way it lacked a handle to raise or lower.

Atem regarded him warily, confused and bewildered. And Yugi swore his heart skipped and his mouth dried out, his body trembling, as the man spoke in a deep and lilting voice.

"Hello, Atem."

The six-year-old blinked and tilted his head slowly to the side. They stared at one another for a long moment and then Yugi heard the click of a key turning in a lock. Seconds later a card key was pressed to a pad on the side of the door of his cage. There was a loud jolting hum before it abruptly flickered into silence. And then Atem stared blankly as the man came forward.

He came to a stop in front of him, then crouched there. He peered at Atem with the eyes of a crow, dark and beady and disgusting. Yugi shivered as the two of them considered each other.

"Do you know who I am?"

The wolf shook his head slowly, but never once did he move to open his mouth.

"I'm the one who brought you to life."

Atem tilted his head. Yugi felt sick.

"I made sure that you would be born."

He didn't so much as blink.

"Now, Atem, introductions aside, I wanted to know if maybe you would be willing to do something for me."

The wolf blinked and tilted his head in the opposite direction, bewildered and clearly confused. He did not move beyond this, though Yugi noticed that his breathing had escalated faintly.

"I want you to do something for me. We're going to go outside. Because I need to see to it that you're developing properly. I want to make sure that there is nothing wrong with you."

Atem sat up a little straighter.

"Yes, we're going to go outside. You can see what the world beyond this facility looks like, Atem," he continued with a smirk that made Yugi bristle in alarm. But Atem simply blinked and nodded slowly, though the incomprehension was clear in his eyes. "But you'll have to perform a task for me while we're out there."

Yugi watched the two of them leave the cage, Atem slowly trailing him as he spoke of the wonders of things outside. He then turned the conversation in the direction of predators, of the powers that lycanthropes in particular possessed. Yugi did not hear him for much of it and Atem was clearly not paying attention.

He was staring at the ground after a while, playing with the small pebbles he could find there on the polished concrete. He was splashing in the stream when he was coaxed into the water and then he was unhappily following the man through the river and onto the other side of the underground gorge.

When they reached the end of the tunnel and crawled through the entrance, the grass was yellow rather than green. Much of the leaves were darker and reddened and yellowed, scattered upon the forest floor. Atem looked absolutely awed to see the world around him in more than that hideous gray color.

"Here's what I want you to do for me," the man said, causing Atem's head to turn, eyes wide and startled. The man was holding a series of pictures in his hands, allowing Atem to grab them and look them over slowly. "I want you to find these animals and bring them to me."

Atem blinked and raised his head to peer at him uncertainly.

"Hunt them and bring them to me, okay?"

Atem nodded after a moment, looking down and tilting his head as he considered the pictures again. After a moment he slowly handed them back, nodding faintly and frowning.

"Don't worry. It'll be easy for you. You're a lycanthrope, Atem." The man smiled like a serpent. Yugi thought the curve of his lips had to be similar to that of the devil. "And you're a Pure-Blood. You are the most powerful force on earth. Remember that."

Whatever the hunts had entailed Yugi did not see. But he did see the buck, the hawk, and the bear cub that Atem brought back and put in front of him. He fell back and blinked in exhaustion as soon as the man watched him with a smirk on his face.

"Perfect."

Atem was led back to his cage a mere few minutes later. And he was shaky and tired, the exhaustion making his black eyes dull gray and his face heavily shadowed. His hands were somewhat shaky but he was not harmed, Yugi noted. He looked perfectly fine but for his tremors, as slight as they were, and the clear exhaustion that bore down on him so fully.

"You did well today, Atem." And that was all that was said as Atem took a seat on the floor and glanced back at him. The lock was clicked in place again. The card key was pressed to the keypad at the door once more.

Atem was rigorously tested soon after this. His blood was taken, cells counted, a scan done, body checked for bruises or blood clots, his teeth measured once more. He was then measured in height and weight. And this went on for a long while. Yugi watched a long handful of these procedures happen more often than not.

But whatever they had been looking for had not been found. The man who had visited him that day came back again occasionally to simply watch him. After a while he wandered away again. And, finally, after what Yugi assumed to be a while, he approached Atem again.

The man undid the locks, then gestured for Atem to approach. The seven-year-old was staring at him coldly, though he followed. Yugi could see that the man's jaws were wrinkled as if with old age, the edges of his mouth heavy and laden with the pressure of his sagging skin. He looked as if he were sickly and older than ever, something which stunned him altogether.

The man led Atem outside as he had before.

But now he produced no pictures.

Atem stared at him as he took a seat beneath one of the tree and gestured that he sit with a flick of his fingers. Atem obeyed, taking a seat with his legs crossed, a new position that Yugi found somewhat surprising as he had never seen him do such a thing before.

Yugi shivered.

"Atem, Atem, Atem."

The boy stared at him, blank and unreadable.

"I wanted to speak to you again. I do not believe I've done so enough with you. You are so quiet and so often we fear that you cannot speak. Ryou has told me he cannot detect any defects in your vocal chords. But yet you're still silent."

Yugi felt sick.

Atem simply blinked.

"And for whatever reason you cannot change." The man paused, staring at Atem with eyes that Yugi swore seemed to hunger for something. It was predatory, heavy, and rather vicious in this manner. And it made him nearly tremble with horror. There was something unnatural and shocking about him. "We need to find the reason behind this, Atem. We need to fix this. You're a Pure-Blood, Atem. You should be able to change at your own desire like the other wolves can."

Atem did not blink. Instead he tilted his head the smallest degree. But Yugi realized with startling clarity that it was not with curiosity that he did this. It was a mirroring predatory nature.

"That can wait for another day, though, hmm?"

And Yugi truly worried that the man might do something beyond that of which he had seen him before. He feared that he might reach out and do something that he did not think he could deal with it all.

"What matters now is that you and I know each other better. I want to know that you understand that I'm on your side. You are my gift. And I want to know that you are happy and healthy. If you cannot change, it implies health problems. Do you understand?"

The nod Atem performed was stiff and clearly suspicious. How the man seemed to overlook this was beyond Yugi. But he smiled and the wrinkles at the edges of his mouth were enough to make Atem lower his eyes and stare at them.

"I see you've noticed it," he said with a small frown. His voice had taken a tired edge now and he sighed softly. Atem, however, simply raised his eyes again. "Atem, I am sick."

Atem nodded. It was not suspicious now. It was simply an affirmation motion.

"I am far sicker than you can even imagine, Atem. My health has been deteriorating for years now. And nothing has cured it."

Atem blinked but his expression did not change.

"And I created you. I created you as the son I could never have, because this disease has rendered me unable to have children." He watched him for a long handful of moments. And Yugi could see a change of gears in his eyes. The beady reflection seemed to grow tenfold. "You are like my son, Atem. And I wish to give you everything. I only ask that you appreciate these things you receive."

Yugi felt sick to his stomach. The seven-year-old was staring at him, eyeing him in bewilderment. But he did not look as if he might argue in the slightest, however. He simply seemed curious more than anything. But Yugi could see it in his eyes as well, the instinct to help him some way. And at seven years old, it was no problem to manipulate someone, no matter whether Atem was a werewolf.

"But I do wish for one thing in return from you."

Yugi wished he could have sobbed in his wolf form. He wished he could have cried. He wished he could have reached out into this memory and pulled Atem away. And he wished more than ever that he could tell him no, to ignore him, to simply run while he was able.

But Atem had always gone back.

He had never known that freedom was something that he could run for. He had never known to run for his life and to hide away in the forest rather than return to the damn labs.

Because they'd had to rescue him.

Yugi shook his head, heartbroken as Atem nodded innocently at the question of, "I want to heal, Atem. I want more than ever to just be healthy again. Can you help me with that, Atem?"

He shook his head again, bristling and tired. How could he ever have been so foolish? How could he have ever been so innocent and childish? How could he have never known to run away as he should have? And Yugi felt sick.

How was it that Atem had been so small and innocent? And when had he become Yugi? When had the gods changed his memories and put him into this new life?

Because this little child here was no one he recognized...

He was the most innocent little blank slate, a completely different person from who he knew himself to be…

"I need you to change, Atem. I need you to change so that you're at your strongest. I need you to do that for me. I need your blood." Atem was staring at him blindly, as if he could not comprehend these words in the slightest. But his eyes somehow hardened, even when his face remained unchanged. "It's the only thing that can heal me. You are the only one who can heal me, Atem. I need you."

Atem was a year older when Yugi next saw him. He understood it only because Atem was taller and somewhat lanky. He looked like the average eight-year-old despite the harsh glint within his eyes. He did not possess a terrible bloodlust of any kind, but he looked as if the world were sharper than he'd imagined and he'd cut himself against it as he would a knife's blade.

Atem was taken from his cage this day. He was taken to a large room almost akin a stadium. And a tub-like basin sat in the center of the room, the water drawn and warm and steaming. Atem eyed it as he turned his head to look over at the vet who stood a few feet away, biting his fingers uncomfortably. The vet stared at him blankly, as if he might be sick.

"Please strip out of your clothes and get into the tub, Atem," the vet muttered in a soft voice. He looked as if he were going to vomit at any moment. His fingers were shaking and his cheeks were colored green at the edges. The guards that stood in the room were silent as they studied him in turn. Yugi saw that the three of them had two different tasers, two holstered guns, and one held what looked to be a restraint pole that could easily be used to hold him if he lashed out in any manner.

Atem was silent as always, pacing forward and slowly but surely removing the scrubs he was wearing. He stepped into the tub with little resistance, though once he seated himself there, he looked uncomfortable and his nose wriggled constantly as if he smelled something that Yugi himself could not. The guards approached after a moment and Atem blinked at them in confusion.

A taser was pointed downward to the water, then triggered. Atem was sent through waves of convulsion, flailing and then sinking beneath the water for a moment. Yugi was shaking, horrified, as the seconds passed. The taser was turned off after a moment. But Atem did not resurface. It took a long minute for him to come over the side of the iron basin, eyes huge and vibrating in their sockets. He was twitching uncontrollably, erratic and trembling as he opened his jaws and puked heavily onto the floor.

Atem was dried off by the vet, entire body examined for what Yugi hoped was for any lasting damage. But the wolf stared at the man as if he could not understand why he would have done this to him, as if he did not recognize the bastard in front of him. And then it passed. Atem looked away as his hair was toweled dry seconds later and his blood was drawn and his organs monitored.

Next he was exposed to silver. The metal was clasped upon his wrists in the form of handcuffs. Atem stared at them blankly, without emotion, and his skin grew into smoldering, sweltering blisters which turned blackened and burned hideously in the air. And, for a long time, he simply stared. He did not move but for the occasional blink and his steady breathing.

Then the vet removed them as well.

And the damage done made Yugi wish again that he could sob.

All along the tops of his wrists his skin was burned raw and scuffed and the flesh eaten down to the very surface of his bones.

Atem was tortured with wolfsbane next. He was injected in the jugular and he went into a seizure immediately. His mouth was flooded with foaming saliva and blood, dribbling from his jaws and down his chin and to the ground. And then he began to convulse harder than ever, puking violently and writhing on the floor as if he could somehow manage to shake the pain away. His eyes were glazed, pupils dilating to pinpricks.

He was given an IV drip and transfusions to help him regain his health after. And, soon after, he was punished for that as well.

Yugi was not certain how long he had been left alone to recover.

But Atem was soon taken into this stadium-like room again. And he was instructed to remove his shirt and stand in the center of the empty metal tub. He was subsequently followed there, the vet coming to his side, and reached outward to grab his arm. The vet looked as if he were going to vomit at any moment. But the wolf stared at him with that same expressionless look.

There was something in that stare, however, that almost broke Yugi's heart. He felt sick, his heart in his throat, and he wished again that he could sob. Something in the way Atem looked at that bastard…

Atem's arm was raised and the scalpel cut into his skin from the bottom of his palm to the very crook of his elbow. A guard standing on the other side of him did the same. And yet another simply watched them. Atem bled as if he were made of water. Yugi guessed it had to do with the fact that he was still recovering from the wolfsbane and silver that he'd endured before. He bled hideously, the liquid pooling and covering much of the tub's bottom in mere seconds.

And then, abruptly, Atem's eyes rolled up in the back of his head and he collapsed. From there the vet grabbed him, began a blood transfusion as rapidly as he could, and washed him clean with damp towels and soap. He cleaned him off, stitched his arms even as they healed in his unconscious state, took him back to his cage when he was stabilized, and brought him a much larger meal than usual.

He was not sure how much time passed. But abruptly Atem was awake. He was moving around and finding games to play in his cage. But he refused the food that was left nearby, not nearly as big as the meal he'd been given before this transition.

He fainted, however, mid-step towards what looked to be a small sleep cot. He lay there frozen and all but lifeless. And not once did he move until Yugi heard a sharp noise. Someone was coming through the hallway, their footsteps booming in the yellowed lighting.

Atem did not respond to the noise.

And, as the person got closer, Yugi could hear them cursing in horror. They called his name, frantic, and then tried their hardest to break into the cage. They put in the padlock's code and undid the lock hanging on the door that barred his way.

Atem still did not move.

The guard got the door open and it swung loudly, screeching and wailing, as it swept over Atem's head. The cursing grew louder than ever and the Pure-Blood remained absolutely motionless. The man crouched down, then reached out to grab him.

Something must have triggered his consciousness, for Atem's eyes snapped open. His pupils were constricted and wild and there was nothing in his eyes that Yugi could read in the slightest. But then a hand reached towards him, inches away. And Atem scrambled to get up and move away.

But it came into contact with him.

And Atem spun around, foaming and snarling as he lunged forward. He caught the man with his long nails. And his teeth snapped shut on his hand. Blood was flying. The man was screaming. Atem was clawing at him frantically, nails cutting at his neck and head heavily. He was foaming at the mouth around the blood which spilled so heavily from his hand.

The guard was quiet after a handful of minutes and a cattle prod hit Atem so hard in the shoulder than he yelped and recoiled. The guard was on the ground all but dead, bleeding everywhere and skin red all around his throat, his face hideously disfigured. The eight-year-old was struck again, the electricity buzzing so loudly that Atem flinched away from it alone when it came for the third time. He backed up frantically into the far wall and sat there, eyes huge.

The guard was grabbed and dragged outward, the door slammed as curses were spat in his direction. It was locked with shaking hands and Atem did not move from where he was huddled back there. His food had been overturned in the panic, but Atem looked too scared to so much as glance in its direction.

When the vet came to check on him and recover a sample of his cells, Atem refused to come from his corner but he whined and managed to breathe out a pathetic, "Food..."

The vet had looked at him with something like pure pity, then with a softness that Yugi felt might wind him. Then he nodded, saying, "Okay, Atem. Stay where you are, okay? Just stay right there and I'll bring you something to eat later, okay?"

And Yugi was amazed to see him return a little while later with a plate of what looked like cooked meat. And Atem was shaking when he sniffed at it, sitting up with huge eyes and a watering mouth. The vet put the plate down in front of him, whispering, "Eat it quickly, Atem. I wasn't supposed to feed you after what happened."

He blinked and hurriedly dug into the food. And, when he finished the plate, he licked his lips and his fingers and hungrily stared at him. The vet smiled at him slightly, muttering that he was welcome, and then left with the plate and the tray of food that the guards had knocked over in their rush for their comrade.

Yugi was shivering as he watched the guard Atem had mauled pass by. He was dressed in his uniform, he was covered in bandages, and he looked healthy for the most part. But it took a moment upon which he turned his head to look at Atem as well. And for a moment they locked eyes. Atem blinked up at him. But then the guard began to shake, trembling hideously, and screamed, reaching up to claw at his throat with a panicked expression.

Atem did not move from where he'd been seated on his mat. He simply blinked and tilted his head. And the man shook and trembled and slowly began to draw blood from his own frantic actions. He foamed at the mouth, he coughed up blood, and then he collapsed dead to the floor.

Atem did nothing more than turn away to pick at his mat. He clawed at it as if with anxiety but did nothing else to acknowledge what had come to happen.

And he showed this same disinterest when he was later put into the larger room with the rest of the wolves. Atem took a seat in the corner and ignored them when they came to sniff at him. One wolf licked his face and Atem ignored them again, turning away as if he could not think of how he was meant to face them.

The next he saw Atem the boy was being fitted for a shock collar. It was tightened and had the letters PB-A engraved into it in cursive, the number 26 further to the right of it. It was a gleaming golden plate of metal and beside it was the transmitter. The collar was fitted to make the plate lay across his pulse, just as the rest of the wolves' were.

Atem looked at the vet with blind eyes, reaching up only once to touch it before turning away and returning to his mat. And Yugi wanted more then ever to sob for him, because he didn't know this little wolf in front of him. He didn't know this white-haired boy who'd been electrocuted in salt water or who had complied with these various tortures and mauled another boy in pure panic.

He didn't know this eight-year-old who had innocently nodded that he wished to help his torturer. And his heart hurt the more he tried to recognize him. He was broken more than anything but it seemed calculated and measured as well and he thought the Pure-Blood knew how bad it was but had not cared to do otherwise to prevent it.

And Yugi wanted nothing more than to sob for him...

"Twelve minutes longer than last time." Atem was falling in a tub of water, eyes closed and clothes weighing him down. He was grabbed by the collar with a long metal pole that had a sharp hook on the end, then dragged out of the water. And it took only a moment for the water to come from his lungs as he coughed and crouched there on the floor. His eyes were wild and hurt and he stared at these two men with an expression that Yugi knew neither could read.

The vet looked brokenhearted. The guard beside him looked shaken. But neither of them matched the knowledge that Atem harbored in his eyes at the moment. And Yugi knew abruptly the look of defeat and yet bitter resistance and tired resignation and he knew them all so well at that moment that he almost imagined he felt them now.

But then the seconds passed.

"Give him a soda and let him dry off. We'll repeat after his vitals are stable again."

And Yugi was abruptly aware of the fact that the vet cared far too much for this eight-year-old, that doing this killed him as much as it destroyed Atem himself.

Atem was on the bottom of the huge glass cube of water minutes later, struggling and then slowly losing strength that Yugi realized he did not truly have. His panic had lent him power and now he was exhausted and dying. He was drowning, overpowered and unable to deal with it all any longer. His eyes rolled up in the back of his head. And his body grew slack, falling and sinking and—

He was grabbed with a longer, wider restraint pole this time. His throat cut against the sharp wire of the restraint and the guard grabbed him by the back of his shirt to pull him out. He was dragged from the water once more, the vet murmuring, "That's enough for today. He's gone through this ten times already. And his lung capacity and struggle time continued to increase in intervals of twelve minutes. Record it and take him back."

Yugi was so relieved he was shaking.

But the relief did not last long.

Atem flailed so hard the next time he hardly lasted a minute. He tried to get his nails into the glass, sobbed for air as if he might somehow save himself, and then tried again to struggle his way out. But the water came over his head seconds later and he began to sink almost immediately. And it happened more than once. The time between his sinking and his entrance became mere seconds. He flailed and struggled and simply sank.

And he was dragged out finally, with the vet cursing under his breath and saying that they'd need to stop for the day. Yugi was horrified. Atem had lasted but two seconds the final time before the decision was made to cease the experiment.

But whatever reprieve he was given did not last. And Atem was taken from his cage now with the intent of an invasive surgery though Yugi did not know where. And he screamed when he saw it. Atem was drugged and put into an unconscious state, then the right side of his head shaved—

Enough! Oh gods, enough! Yugi cried desperately, breaking away from the image and shaking harder than he ever had before. He fell to the ground and trembled until he couldn't anymore, wishing more than ever that he could cry in this form. N-no more!

Slifer and Ra were both silent for a while. And then the golden she-wolf moved towards him. She pressed her nose into his ear and licked his cheek before pulling away and turning to Slifer. I am due to speak with Bakura. Watch him for me.

Tell Bakura hello for me, Slifer said dryly. But she turned back to Yugi. And the white wolf remained laying there, eyes listless with the horrors of what he'd witnessed. She came to his side and took a seat. For someone who wished to know something formerly, I do not understand why you always react so terribly.

Yugi trembled. He… They did that to him… And that bastard…! He shook his head. And Ryou… Ryou let it happen!

Ryou was not without faults. He was afraid of death before he met Bakura. Had it not been for Bakura he most likely would never have helped to free Atem.

Yugi shook his head violently now, snarling. That's not an excuse! He watched it happen and he just stood aside and let it! He gave Atem false hope! He… He…

He also died for him in those woods. She blinked down at him. Ryou stopped Espa taking a shot and got his throat slit soon after. It was not as if he turned his back on Atem after he let him escape. He did it knowing that things would only get worse from there. And he did it because he loved Atem as he would his own family. Whether it is appreciated or not is something else to be decided. But he did what he thought necessary and he saved Atem when he found the chance to.

Yugi huffed a breath. He deserved to die like that. He deserved that when he bled Atem! he snarled angrily, moving to stand up. He deserved to have Panik and Espa flay him alive for all I care! He went along with it! He let it happen!

One will do a great many atrocities for the sake of survival. Ryou was young and afraid of death when you were still in the labs. He did not know any better. He was too afraid to object to the torture. So he went along with it. She shook her head. Just as much of your pack is afraid of you being wrong and yet turning their back on the beliefs they were raised with makes them continue to be one of the only reasons they follow you. Do you think any of them are ready to die? They're afraid and they're tired. And they don't know what to do. Turning on you means destroying their own beliefs. But speaking out means that someone might punish them. And running away would only last until they got themselves hunted down and killed by those who swear their allegiance to you.

It's not… Yugi fell quiet for a moment. Then he wrinkled his lips back and scowled at her. I never asked for this.

Yes, well, this is what you were given as your birthright. Slifer eyed him for a moment, then looked away. You could not be here had Ryou failed to grow to love you. If he had not grown to care he would never have set you free.

Yeah, well… But the anger was dissipating and Yugi felt a cold, hollow ache in his chest. Had Ryou been the reason he'd been able to escape from the cage? Had he been the one to let him and his cage mate flee like that? I wish I could turn my back on this whole thing.

You could always ask the second Atem to take your place. The words were spoken wryly and Yugi turned to her with wide eyes. But we both know he would rather run than fight.

He's not a coward, Yugi snapped. He's just…tired.

And he has been for years now. But were it not for you, he'd likely be dead by now. I can only imagine what it is that his broken heart might have led him to. She was quiet for a moment. No, I take it back. He would live. But it would not be for his own sake.

Nothing is for his own sake, Yugi spat. Nothing is for him. Everything is for…me…

The she-wolf hummed and looked at him for a moment. Be careful the choices you make, Atem. You never know the influence they hold on others.

Yugi sighed softly, nodding the smallest degree. And then he felt himself waking, a strange and uncomfortable feeling, as if he were being torn away from his own thoughts and thrust into an opposite direction. He blinked slowly to take in the light of dawn coming through the window. And, beside him, Yami was still fast asleep, fleece thrown atop his body and pulled over his shoulders. He looked peaceful for once.

And Yugi both loved and hated it.

---

"I'm, um…sorry for chaining you up before."

Yami turned his head with a confused look, eyes wide as he frowned in consideration. For a moment he could not find the words to answer him. The entire topic of discussion seemed simply estranged to him, as if he had no idea what it was he meant to do or say about it.

"When did you…?" he muttered, bewildered with the thought of answering him. Was there a way to properly respond to something like this? He supposed there had to be but Yami could not quite find a way to understand it. So he faltered speaking any further and hesitantly pushed aside the controller he'd been holding in his hand. "I'm confused…"

Yugi's face turned a bright red, as if he were too mortified to truly stop and reevaluate the sentence that left his mouth. He hesitated, opening and closing his mouth once, and then awkwardly turned away from him entirely.

When he spoke again Yami could almost not hear him, startled by the way he refused to look in his direction. And his words came out tiny, as if he were afraid of what Yami might say in response. He didn't sound like the usual strong albeit somewhat dependent teenager Yami was so used to.

"When you were feral before, after the Fuwa thing," Yugi muttered, all but whispering. "When I had you in that cave. I…chained you up, remember?"

"Yes." Yami had to admit that his response came out shorter than he wished it to. But all he could think about when he considered his time there was how desperately hungry he'd been. "But what is it that you are saying to me right now? I don't understand why this has come up to begin with."

"I just… I was thinking about it. And I realized I never apologized for it." Yugi's voice cracked. "I mean, I… You were feral and at the time it seemed the best idea but I didn't want you to think that I… I'm sorry about it. It must have reminded you of…"

He trailed off and Yami considered him for a long minute. The red-eyed boy felt sick as the seconds passed. Yugi truly had no words for him, he realized. He was talking about things that had happened before. He was talking about things that ceased to matter to Yami. And it made him ache, a dull throbbing forming in his temple at the very thought.

"I would have done the same to you had I been in your place." Yami was quiet for a moment, studying him before sighing softly and shaking his head slowly. He didn't know how to make this better. And Yugi refused to look over at him. And that made him feel sicker than he had before and his head felt as if it were pulsing. He shivered and shook his head. "I would have chained you up as well. It was the only solution."

Yugi was quiet for a moment. And then he abruptly turned to him, eyes sharp and wider than before. He looked as if he might vomit at any moment.

"But you didn't know what was going on. And you couldn't get your own food and you were starving and I had to let you go hungry when I wasn't there."

"And?" Yami asked uncertainly, voice edged with nerves that made his tone sharper than he meant it to be. He wanted to say he was sorry, to apologize perhaps frantically. And then he felt sick and dizzy for a split second as he licked his lips and looked away. "I've gone hungry before. It is not a big deal."

"Just because you've gone through it before doesn't mean you should have had to again!" Yugi snapped, eyes narrowing. "I tied you up to help keep you safe. But I ended up hurting you instead. You didn't know what was going on and I knew you were starving and I didn't…"

"Why are you speaking of this?"

Yugi blinked and stared at him. And Yami nearly trembled, a wave of tension coming over him that left him dizzy and sick. He shook his head slowly and looked quickly away again, stomach knotting painfully as he considered the smaller boy. He could feel the tension so great in his bones that it made him almost vibrate and burn with his need to dispel it.

"Because I…" He hesitated, then stared at him blankly for a moment. And Yami could see him breathing a little harder from the corner of his eye. The realization made his head snap up and around to regard him again and the two of them stared at each other silently for a moment.

"Because it should never have happened like that."

But Yami felt that there was another message entirely that Yugi was attempting to voice. He shivered and shook his head, turning away.

"It happened regardless. It was the best course of action to be taken. I have no problem with the fact that it happened, Yugi."

The small teen was quiet for a moment. "But I hate that it did. I should have found another way or been there more often than I was." He hesitated. "I shouldn't have… I should never have left you there when there wasn't food or…"

"It happened as it needed to." Yami stared at him blankly now, unsure of what more to say. He wanted the conversation to end; he was almost willing to beg, if only he knew it would ensure Yugi would drop the subject. But something about the thought made his heart hurt more than ever. And he could hardly breathe as he considered it. "It was necessary to confine me. I would have killed Ishizu or Obelisk otherwise."

Yugi stared at him as if he could not fathom the thought. And Yami was struck with abrupt memory of the sound of the deity's neck snapping as loudly as it had. He remembered the teeth in his fur and the way he'd spun on him. And he remembered that senseless need to kill or be killed, that instinct of putting Obelisk in the ground before he could do the same to him. And he nearly trembled again at the thought. He remembered once more that hideous taste of salty blood and the grainy aftertaste it left on his tongue. And he could not shake the smell of his own fur as his stomach gurgled with need and his body screamed for some kind of satiation he could not give it. He recalled the empty feeling of his belly growling so heavily, his mind spiraling with panic to get food no matter what the cost nor who it was that he struck down to do so.

And he hated himself for the fact that he recalled it so clearly. It was enough to make him dizzy, a feeling of disgust coursing through him. He looked away, towards the sky blue wall nearest him as if it might somehow free him of these memories. His heart felt as if it were rattling in his chest.

"It was. But I could have tried something else. If I'd kept you fed instead you wouldn't have gone after them. You were starving. It made you violent." Yugi was quiet for a moment. And then Yami heard the bed squeak as the smaller teen moved. Immediately his head snapped around, eyes wide and fingers shaking for a split second. The small teen was balanced on the edge of the mattress, staring at him pointedly now. "I just wish I could have known that sooner. I just wish I could have realized and…"

Yami shook his head mutely.

Yugi did enough for him.

He didn't need to regret things that Yami had already tried to forget. He did not need to show remorse for the things Yami had put out of his mind. But the small teen was looking at him in such a way and he knew instinctively that he could not turn from this.

He was too shaken.

And Yugi was too broken.

Whatever he had dreamed about—for surely it had to have been something in his rest that had caused this as he'd been looking at Yami with a shattered expression since he'd woken—had caused more pain than Yami could reasonably ignore.

"I am okay." He said the words in a shaky tone, because he could not find enough strength to speak without nearly trembling. "I am fine. I… I'm here and I'm okay."

But Yugi looked at him as if he couldn't understand the words. And when he laughed and nodded, Yami swore he saw his eyes gleaming as if with unshed tears when he looked away. "Right…right. You're here now. And you're okay."

Yami peered at him silently, holding his hands pointedly towards his lap. His fingers were shaking pathetically and he could not think for even a moment to cease such movements. He swallowed thickly, forcing himself not to speak again, his mouth growing dry and bile threatening to force itself up the back of his throat.
"You know…you're right. You're okay now, but I…" Yugi was silent for a long minute, but it was the first time that he had spoken in over two hours. Yugi had been playing with homework and Yami had been forcing himself to pay attention to the video games he'd selected before their earlier conversation. However, now, as he looked at the character on the screen, he found his attention shattered once more. He slowly licked his lips and turned his head, confused as he faced him for a moment.

"What is it?"

Yugi was fumbling with one of the staples in the corner of his homework sheets. He was picking at the teeth of it, where they were flattened so forcefully against the bottom of the stack. The small teen did not look happy in the slightest, though after a moment he shook his head and sighed softly. "How was it that you found me that day that Fuwa attacked us at the restaurant? How did you realize that I was there and that you needed to help me?" he asked abruptly, turning to him now. His blue-violet eyes were sharp as they stared at each other for an intense minute.

Yami blinked and straightened in his seated position. It was odd to face him now, bewildered as he considered the words. He was asking him about that far back? He wondered at the thought curiously for a moment, then slowly turned and shook his head as he twisted around to face him entirely. "It was the link between us, the alpha-beta connection. Why are you asking?"

"Okay, but how?"

The red-eyed teen hesitated for a moment. And then he furrowed his brows. "I do not know entirely. I got a flash of a thought that I supposed had to have come from you. And then I realized that I could feel your fear and alarm. So I realized that you must have needed me and I went to find you."

"Okay, but how did you find me exactly?" Yugi said with a slow shake of his head. "How was it that you knew where to go? Did you follow my scent or something else? Did you follow the others' scents? I don't know how you found me so quickly like that. I want to know how you managed it."

Yami blinked long and slow and then frowned, tilting his head as he considered him for a long moment. He was silent but for soft and nearly broken breathing. And then he shook his head and narrowed his eyes. "It was the connection between us, Yugi. As your alpha, when you feel intense emotions, I am able to experience a small portion of them as well." He paused. "Beyond that, I cannot explain it further. I know that some wolves are much more capable than I am at explanations towards this. But I have only ever bitten you. And I have no desire to test this connection on anyone else."

"But would you test it with me?" Yugi asked abruptly, eyes searching his rapidly, so intently that Yami bristled in surprise at the demand in his words. "I mean, you just said that there are others more capable of explaining it. So why are they more capable?"

Yami was quiet for a moment, eyeing him uncomfortably. He did not know how he was meant to explain why it was that those various others were more capable than he was. In truth, he felt that he should have known it, even if he only ever had bitten Yugi and had no plans to infect anyone else. But he would not say anything against the idea of others having multiple betas. It simply was not something that he could find within himself to care for. And he was truthfully more than slightly afraid of what repercussions would come about it for him or those he sank his teeth into.

"Some alphas and betas are able to track each other's movements completely through their connection. They bond extremely closely and they can basically sense even the smallest of problems with the other. I've been told that they can follow each other basically from one continent to the next should something have happened to make that necessary. It would be harder for them but they are capable of it." Yami shook his head. "But those are also myths. I do not even know if there is any truth to it, Yugi. I have only ever been told that it was possible, not that anyone had ever truly managed it."

"But it might be possible then?"

"From what I have been made to understand, yes."

"Do you think that we could figure out how to do that?"

Yami stared at him for a moment, a lost sensation chilling his gut. "I do not know why we would be incapable," he admitted reluctantly. "But I also do not know why you might want such a thing to happen as it is."

"I don't know about you, but I'd rather prevent anything like the Fuwa incident from happening again. So if I can figure out where you are at times when you're not with me and we don't have to worry about the people from the labs or a random hunter getting to us, I think that would be great."

Yami could not quite find it in himself to argue, but he did not want to agree either. Something about the idea in and of itself worried him. But he could not find a reason to argue, either—there was no reason to deny Yugi in all actuality. He was nervous, yes, but he doubted Yugi might do anything to abuse his trust in the situation. So he fell silent, studying him for a moment longer.

"I do not know where exactly to begin." But was that true? Yami tilted his head, wondering at the new emergence of thoughts that came through his mind. His head was spinning with the new idea, as if he were unable to think any more than about this. So he blinked, furrowed his brows, and tilted his head towards him a bit more noticeably. "I believe I was told at one time that the alpha-beta connection could work like that if you knew one's scent, their body temperature, heartbeat, and often knew their thought patterns. But I cannot quite remember if that was…"

Yugi blinked, and for a moment his eyes lit up with both surprise and astonishment. His face became as bright as the sun with his mounting excitement and he looked as if he might tremble at any moment with joy that he was unable to contain. "Okay, so then…if we do that, then it would help us utilize the alpha-beta bond?"

Yami fought away a flinch at the eager tone in his voice. "I would suppose so," he answered after a moment, though he could not commit any further to such a question. "It is my understanding that such a thing would be possible, yes. I would imagine it would take a bit of focus on the other party, but I cannot say for sure that it would not work either."

Yugi nodded, entire face lighting up even more than Yami had assumed him capable of. He wanted to smile in turn, but his stomach knotted almost fearfully with the idea that perhaps he might hurt Yugi if this somehow fell through. But he supposed it was best to try regardless. So he licked his lips and looked down at the carpet fibers, running a nail over the indigo strands.

"If you truly want to do this, we can try to learn today, I suppose? It is unlikely that we will be doing much else, right?"

He could not see them venturing into the woods on this day. Nor could he imagine that Yugi might want to see the pack. He had woken up to the small teen sitting up shakily, drenched in a cold sweat. He'd smelled of panic that Yami had been unable to understand in even the slightest. And he'd sat there wondering at the fear that Yugi wore so akin heavy cologne. It made his stomach lurch as he considered it. Yugi had been quiet for the better part of the day, nearing absolute silence for most of the time they'd been awake.

Yami did not have the heart to potentially break him down further than whatever nightmare he'd suffered. So he hoped with everything in him that this was truly an option and not just a fairytale that the wolves sometimes told each other. He truly hoped his cage mate honestly had known someone like that within his pack, capable of finding their beta no matter what…

Yami shook his head after a moment. "I will try it if you want to. But I make no promises that it will truly work. I was told it as a story. So I do not know if it is truthful in the slightest."

Yugi nodded, his eyes shining with such determination it made Yami want to vomit for a split second. How he could waste his time feeling so strongly about something such as his safety was beyond him. "Okay, so then let's do this."

Yami hesitated. "How?" he finally mumbled. "I am not sure that the house is large enough for us to try this kind of thing. It is not as simple as one of your grandfather's scent tests. It is meant to require a lot of concentration and it would be best to attempt it when there are possible distractions, yes? It would help you learn faster…"

The small teen smiled faintly. "For someone who says he doesn't know much about it, you sure seem to have a lot of information on it, Yami."

The statement brought a wry smile to his lips. "You would be amazed the things that you find yourself drudging up when you are curious about certain matters. It's strange how the lycanthropy works like that." He shrugged dismissively now. "But I suppose it does not matter. We will find out if we can make this connection stronger the moment that we put our minds to it, I suppose."

Yugi flashed him a smile that Yami swore would make him blind. Then he hesitantly offered him a more genuine smile in turn and the smaller boy moved to push his notebook and homework aside. "I think I already know your heartbeat"—his cheeks were dusted a soft pink at the admission, startling Yami if only slightly—"but I don't know about body temperature or anything like that, honestly. But I do know your scent really well."

He blinked. "I suppose remaining in the same room together as often as we have would do such a thing. I know your heartbeat and scent rather well too, I think." He tilted his head. He did not need to admit to Yugi that he could pick his heartbeat out of a crowd of people, however. Yugi did not need to know that. He did not need to know that he also knew his scent almost as well as he did his own. He knew it better than he had his own cage mate, and that hurt to realize… He drew in a deep breath. "Regardless, we can try and see if we can focus so much as to seek each other out actively in a few minutes…?"

"Well, as you pointed out, the house is pretty small. I think the next time we go to the woods, we should see if we can do it there. It might help a lot more to determine if it's actually…" Yugi fell quiet after a moment, then smiled at him. "Maybe I'll send you hunting and then see if I can track you that way."

"As long as there is fresh snowfall or the path has been traversed often. Otherwise you would just be able to find me by way of following my tracks."

Yugi grinned. "True."

Yami almost wished he could hate how relaxed Yugi appeared at the moment. His stomach flipped forcefully and his heart seemed to hammer where it was lodged in his throat. He licked his lips and lowered his eyes, staring at the carpet again. Yugi was so easily pleased, as if anything he offered or said or did somehow made up for the many things he lacked. Yami drew in a deep breath. It was hard to be frustrated with a boy who seemed happy to simply spend time with and be around him. And that was something that Yami could hardly understand in even the slightest. Surely Yugi had higher standards than what he displayed towards settling for Yami.

The red-eyed teen drew in a deep breath, flustered and perhaps more than slightly annoyed. It was hard to think of Yugi settling for anything. And he was not sure if that was because he hated the thought that Yugi might or if it was because Yugi seemed so lively and ready to do what others might have been too afraid to.

The silence that settled between them was somehow tense and yet comfortable all at once, almost as if a blanket had been draped over their shoulders. But it lasted for only a minute before Yugi drew in a deep breath again, facing him, and murmured, "I want to learn how to do this as soon as possible. Do you think that we could try it in a few minutes or something?"

Yami blinked at him, startled as he frowned and considered the question. His stomach churned for a moment before he got up and dusted himself off. He could hear Yugi's heart hammering in his ears, the speed most likely from embarrassment and perhaps a small mixture of excitement as well. He frowned and licked his lips, rubbing his palms against his jeans as if he were sweating. He did not think he was and he did not feel unusually warm, but it still made him somewhat anxious.

"Sure. We can start now," the red-eyed teen muttered, unsure of why his voice came out somewhat flat and yet cracked at the edges. He was not upset, so he could not truly understand why his voice might have come out in such a tone. But he supposed it did not matter, because Yugi looked relieved more than anything and that was enough to calm his slight irritation and uncertainty. "I'm going to leave the room. In about five minutes come and find me. Try focusing on my scent and heartbeat and—"

"You mentioned body temperature." Yugi was settled on his haunches much like a dog awaiting a bone of some kind. Yami hesitated, staring at him, as the small teen continued with a slight tilt of his head. "But I don't know how you would let me take your temperature. It's not like using a thermometer is really going to help me familiarize myself with it, right?"

Yami blinked again, then nodded. He lowered his eyes and tugged on his sleeves once before crossing over to the other boy's side. He leaned forward, tilting his head towards Yugi's and the blue-violet-eyed boy's breath was stuck in his lungs in an instant. His eyes were huge and confused and he looked incredibly surprised and excited. Yami did not know what for, but he could see something like hope that swelled in those blue specks against the dark violet of his irises. His stomach knotted and he angled his face downward slightly, then moved closer still.

They were so close that Yami could feel Yugi's body heat against his skin, a degree or so warmer than his own, as if he were spiked with an abrupt fever. Yami hovered there, for a moment unsure of whether to continue what he had meant to do. And then he shuffled his weight, moved to press his left knee into the mattress, and tipped his head again.

Their cheeks were millimeters apart. And the heat that Yugi possessed at the moment made him dizzy. But he could smell him more than ever now, an intense and blistering scent like freshly grown leaves and grass that was just cut, of wind that danced with the twinge of forest life and river water. And, as Yugi lost his embarrassment, his body temperature changed, becoming softer and much like the stroke of a brush against his skin. He was light like an ember, with a crackling energy which made the air almost ionized for a brief moment.

And then it passed.

Yugi began to breathe again.

Yami pulled away.

Yugi stared at him.

Yami looked at the ground.

There was a long moment of silence, awkward and heavy. And then Yugi seemed to abruptly relax again, the air changing once more with something like laughter more than anxiety. Yami nearly bristled at this sensation, pushing it away only after his head had stopped spinning. Close proximity to the other wolf had made him feel lightheaded, something that almost terrified him.

"Okay, I think I have that…in mind now," Yugi said softly, voice somewhat shaky as if he could not truly trust himself to speak without embarrassing himself. He looked pleased when Yami glanced at him from the corner of his eye, however, and the red-eyed boy wondered at this sight. His stomach rolled for only a moment, then settled in a chaotic twisted position much like knotted thread. He fumbled for a moment to think straight, then looked away again.

"Wait five minutes. Then come and find me."

Yami left without another word, hurrying to make his way out of the room. His lungs felt tight and constricted and his belly ached for a moment as he considered the small hallway. He looked towards the staircase, then to Yugi's room once more. It took only a moment to make his decision and head down the stairs and for the clinic beneath.

He remembered only then that there was a possibility of animals being there. But as he stepped into the small area, his stomach knotted. There was an almost aching absence from the lack of movement he could detect. And all he could hear was the sound of one person shuffling about towards the back of the clinic. He hesitated, then slowly picked his way to the door.

And there he hovered.

His stomach was heavily knotted again, twisting and writhing and pressing painfully upon itself. He was almost winded from the sheer stress of it, as if it were bunching up and pressing upon his lungs and threatening to squeeze them into nonexistence. He drew in a deep breath and glanced over his shoulder towards the door. He remembered vaguely the way that Yugi had had to drag him forcefully back into the examination room to redo his stitches when he was still hurt.

He'd had to hold his muzzle with his hands, forcing it shut when he'd tried to snap at his fingers. And then he'd had to muzzle him when he'd managed to break free and nipped him several times. Yugi had laughed about it, but he'd also grown frustrated with him. And so they'd fallen into an impasse, Yugi insistent upon cleaning and fixing his pulled sutures and Yami refusing to allow him to do so without biting at him angrily.

But he knew that this was not a place he would likely go at any other time. And so now he hesitantly pressed upon the swinging door, leaning his weight against it for a moment. The wood was so cold that it made him dizzy but he refused to do much else but stare at it. The room in the window was rather dim and he wondered how any regular human might have seen in the shadows as they were so heavily draped across the entirety of the area. The fluorescent lights in the room directly behind the door were off. But he could see the faintest hint of illumination from further within the back recesses of the building. And it made him somewhat nervous.

The labs had always been dimly lit but for the examination rooms. The hallways and the cells themselves were illuminated only by the dim yellow bulb which rested in the center of the ceiling of their branch of tunnels. Beyond this there was no source of light but for the single room which none of them were allowed into. He'd gotten in there once to find a huge bulking machine which smelled of burning flesh and ashes and fire.

He had not understood it back then.

And he refused to acknowledge it now. So Yami spent much of his time pretending that he had not done such a thing. It made it easier to deal with consequences of things he did not care to remember.

But the lighting had been harsh in the examination rooms in order to dull their senses. And the dim lighting had been used to make it harder for their instincts to stir and tell the hours of the day. Yami had been virtually unable to tell time much of that stretch he'd been below ground. And he'd adjusted slowly but surely to it all upon coming to the surface.

Yami glanced over his shoulder and then towards the light again. He was not used to such dimness in this house. It seemed unnatural and perhaps even uncharacteristic of the little home. Even when he'd been stuck as a wolf he had not suffered from such estranged sensation. He had not seen it in the slightest. And that was something that made him nervous now. But he doubted that Yugi's mother or grandfather were out to get him. And he did not think that they were involved in the experiments.

They couldn't have been.

The gods would not have allowed Atem to wind up with them again. And he was sure they would have thrown Yugi to the labs had they been a part of it. There was no way that one might come to love Atem enough that monetary greed would prevent their return of him. The thought made him sick.

He did not want to consider Yugi's family to be greedy or malicious in any way. But it was hard not to imagine that even they would come to feel such a thing should they have been involved in his creation. There were thousands of dollars put on the wolf's head—millions now, perhaps. The hunters were not as abundant as they had been, but that was not to say that they most likely had not been dealt with at some point or another by the mountain pack.

If there were any force in the world he would have trusted to dispose of them, it was the pack. They were violent and cunning and would never sit for the things that hunters would bring their way. So, likely, they had not stopped, but they'd been dealt with instead. Marik himself had probably killed some, even if it was simply because of his own delusions rather than anything else. Why he had not killed Fuwa had been simply his hatred towards Yugi. Had it not been for that, he would have done so immediately upon crossing paths with him.

Yami knew that about the wolf if nothing else.

He drew in a deep breath and pushed the door open, then wandered about the shadows. There were little paintings on the wall. And he could see some instruments laid out on the steel counters that rested on either side of the walkway. There was nothing alarming about the area at all but for that lack of lighting, which Yami brushed forcefully from his mind. His eyes had always adjusted instantly to the lighting and changes thereof. Even when he'd been younger, it had been instant no matter his state of health.

Yami shook his head and looked around for a moment. And then he looked towards the back room, slipping inside and narrowing his eyes. The person inside was hunched over something or other. And, had he not been telling himself that none of the Motou's were dangerous, he might have thought them to be playing with an unconscious patient atop the steel table. It did not matter that the room was empty but for the two of them. It was simply that his mind would have distorted it in his mounting confusion.

"Oh, hello."

Yami blinked, tilting his head. "Hello, Sugoroku," he muttered softly. His eyes shot briefly around the sterile room. The white walls looked spotless and somehow intimidating, as if looming overhead and so forceful as to press forward and into them. It made him stiffen and he felt almost sick. But he shoved it aside to look towards the medical equipment for a brief moment.

He recognized the set of things upon the walls, the kits which were plastered beneath some of the cabinets. They were emergency kits, he was sure, with tools that would be necessary for a hasty clean up should something go awry. Yami pushed the thought away, exhaling a breath. None of these items were remotely similar to what had been used at the labs and what equipment he knew would have been was hidden away entirely from sight. It had likely been gathered up and put away for later use. It was not as if sharp objects needed to be visible at all moments in the room…

Yami brushed the thought off. "Did I interrupt something?"

"Like what?" Sugoroku snorted, an amused glint in his eye. "You and I both know that I wasn't doing anything."

The red-eyed teen failed to comment on the fact that he'd been huddled over the exam table as if he might have been doing something or other. Instead he attempted to look more bashful than anything, offering a somewhat stressed smile in hopes of easing the tension forming in his own bones.

"I did not meant to intrude on your alone time then," Yami muttered after a moment, a reluctant twinge in his voice. He had not considered how hard it would be to hold a conversation with someone that was not Yugi. But then, he was not sure that he was doing well speaking to Yugi as it was either. In truth, he doubted that he was doing well communicating with the smaller wolf anymore. Somehow he felt he was saying all the wrong things and doing much worse by him than he ever had before. "Do you want me to leave?"

Sugoroku's moustache wiggled when he laughed. Yami tilted his head, surprised by the sight, and barely stopped himself from snorting and furrowing his brows. He did not think he had ever seen someone's moustache move like that. It was almost…bewildering. He wondered if it itched when it brushed against his nose with his snickers.

"Interrupting my alone time?" the elderly Motou repeated with a smile and shake of his head. "No such thing. I hate being alone half the time as it is. And I was not expecting to see you here at any rate. It's a…welcome surprise, I guess you could say."

Yami nearly grunted. Why would his presence there be welcome? Of all the things to say, he could not understand why he'd chosen this. But he would not argue with him, instead nodding and turning away with a forced smile. "I hope you do not assume that I am hiding away from you or your daughter. I simply do not always…like company. Too many people at one time make me anxious."

It was not entirely a lie, though the half-truth was rather stilted. He truly did not like too many people around him. But it was not as simple as it making him anxious. And anxiety was not so easily explained for a werewolf of all creatures. It was almost a joke to him for a moment before he chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment.

"I hadn't really thought much about you hiding out in Yugi's room, to be honest." Sugoroku gave him a smile that reminded him too much of leering faces and laughter and it made his stomach ache for a brief moment. He was not used to others laughing at him or smiling at him in any manner that was not more akin a sneer. Yugi was the only one he knew not to do such a thing. Seeing the expression similarly on his grandfather's face made him nervous for a moment. "I assumed you just did not want to have to deal with any backlash from your return here."

Yami frowned. "Backlash?" he echoed softly. "I was unaware that I should be wary of backlash."

"Oh." The elderly man appeared flustered now, perhaps startled by his response. "Well, all I mean, is that I just thought that you didn't want to…deal with Kasumi if she was not in a kind mood towards you."

He blinked and then nearly bristled. She didn't need to be in a kind mood towards him. It was his fault that her son had been infected with lycanthropy as it was. And he was letting Yugi run around and do things that he would regret sooner rather than later, he was sure. And he was the reason that Yugi disappeared much of the time and didn't come back until late at night. He was the reason that her son lied to her so often and why she had so many problems on her plate as it was.

He was the reason their relationship had become so strained. He was the reason Yugi and Kasumi were so distant and estranged to each other now. He was the reason Yugi had nearly gotten killed more than once, why he had to struggle so much now when he had not before.

Yami grimaced. "She's in the right to be upset. We lied to her. We've been hiding away from her. She's every right to be annoyed with us. And it is not as if she owes me an apology. She doesn't need to be nice to me."

Sugoroku snickered and shook his head. "It's strange how different you and Yugi are," he commented with a raised brow. Yami blinked and furrowed his brows in turn, confused as he considered him. But the elderly man was still laughing even as he explained and Yami wondered at the way he looked at him. "He would have said she should be nice to you instead of giving you the cold shoulder like she is. He'd be livid about it. But you're calm and cool and collected about it. It's almost odd to me."

Yami opened his mouth to answer, then stopped short. There was a small, faint touch of tension in his shoulders, almost as if he were sensing another werewolf coming close to the clinic. But it was not aggressive and he knew the feeling far too well. He hummed, ignoring the puzzled look on Sugoroku's face, and faced the door with a tilt of his head. He had to strain his eyes for the proper sighting of the small teen as the door shut. But it took only a moment for Yugi to look around and pick his way towards them. He had not quite noticed Yami's eyes on him, however. And he seemed to be entirely focused on something that Yami could not quite recognize himself.

Yugi found his way through the door, stopped in front of them, and then his entire face lit up as he looked between them happily. He turned to his grandpa immediately after, murmuring, "Hey, Grandpa. No clinic today?"

"Your mother went to the main clinic instead. She didn't want to have any animals in the house in case they got stressed out again because of you guys being here," Sugoroku explained, smiling but appearing puzzled as well. Yami imagined that Yugi's appearance there and the surprise and happiness he had worn upon entering the room with them had done well to confuse the elderly Motou. "And she didn't want to stress either of you out by having them in the kennels."

"That is…considerate of her," Yami said quietly, nodding slightly when the other two turned to him. He did not look at them for more than a moment, tilting his head and blinking. When he turned back, his eyes were locked on Sugoroku again. "Is the main clinic larger than this one?"

Yugi blinked. "It's about twice this size. And it has about five different examination and surgical rooms," he explained, smiling at him when Yami blinked and looked towards him sideways. "This one is the emergency clinic. We use it for the animals with the most dire health problems. Like when V—the wolf-dog got hit by a car. The police officer on the scene was actually about to shoot him and put him out of his misery. He stayed here for a couple of days before he…got loose."

Yami did not need more than a second to realize that he meant to say Valon. He hummed and nodded, turning away. "Makes sense," he muttered, a rather uncommitted grunt more than anything. He looked back at Yugi again, tilting his head after a moment. "We need to practice some more. I don't know if you found me so easily because of how small the house is or if you tracked my scent."

Yugi nodded, eyes still bright. He, like Yami, ignored the questioning glance Sugoroku shot them. "We'll do it again the next time we go into the woods."

---

I can't believe half of the shit that got done to…me, Yugi said awkwardly, frowning as he looked at Jonouchi. The tawny-furred male was laying a couple of inches from him, ears pricked and eyes locked on Yami as well. The black wolf had been chewing on an antler for an hour now. And he'd gnawed a large chunk of it so sharply that it had become a knife's edge beneath the constant pressure.

Jonouchi looked queasy as he continued to watch Yami with a somewhat horrified expression. Well, you knew that they'd done some whack things to you, he said quietly, tone bordering flustered. Yugi could not tell if that was because of Yami's jaw power or if it was Yugi's words formerly. So I don't know why you're all that surprised.

They cut his—my—head open!

The brown-eyed wolf blinked, then glanced over. But Yugi could see that he was still watching in his peripheral. Why though? he asked. I mean, did they do lobotomies for everyone?

Yugi huffed. I don't think that's what they were doing, but thanks.

Well, you said you were sick and couldn't keep up with the experiments anymore. So doesn't that mean they were probably cutting into your head to figure out why that was happening? the other wolf asked, though now he turned away again. His ears flattened and he curled his lip slightly. Yugi looked and nearly flinched. Yami had bitten the antler in half in a clear, clean cut and looked incredibly unhappy with the new development. How much pressure did it take to break an antler? Yugi could not imagine Yami was biting anywhere less than what Obelisk had said was his minimum at three thousand pounds per square inch. He had said he bit far harder than that and Yami had even hinted that Yugi himself could do the same, that he'd been measured at such as Atem formerly. Jesus.

He's…kind of anxious.

Why? Jonouchi snorted. Did he just find out he'd been experimented on as badly as you?

Yugi had no doubt that Yami had been, though he would not put that out in the air. Instead he tilted his head and sighed softly. He's probably reacting to me more than anything. He shook himself out and plopped back down again. Jonouchi was looking at him curiously now. Anyways, though, I don't know how I actually survived any of that. It was…crazy…what they did to me.

Does it actually matter how you survived, Yugi? The white wolf bristled, startled by the question. He frowned at Jonouchi and nearly curled his lips back angrily in response, but the golden-furred wolf still did not look away from Yami as he spoke. I mean, at the end of the day, you're still alive. And your memories are fuzzy and all, but you're still here. So does the how of it actually matter?

Yugi fell quiet for a moment. It does. It matters a lot to me, Jonouchi.

Why? It doesn't change anything. It happened and you're still alive. I would consider that a blessing and call it a day.

He shook his head angrily, blue-violet eyes flashing. That's not what I meant, he hissed in annoyance. And, yes, it does change things. It changes everything.

Why though? You're still Yugi. Now you just know what happened as Atem.

Right. Yugi huffed. Now I know.

Jonouchi shook his head and looked away. Now you just know more of the details. But you've always known something was wrong. You've always known that they'd tortured and run experiments on you. Even Yami has told you that, I'm sure.

The white wolf drew his lips back. But now I got to see it. And I got see him. I got to see myself react to it. He hesitated. Jonouchi, you don't know what guilt is until you're watching a little boy being electrocuted in saltwater, bled, starved… You don't know how badly you hate yourself because you can't stop it. Because it's already done. But the memories make you want to shatter and it's terrible and you just…

Jonouchi was watching him closely. You can't change any of what happened.

I know. Yugi looked away. But I just… I wish… I wish there was something I could have done…

He shook his head, a glint entering his eyes that told Yugi he wasn't sure what more to say and that he simply wanted the conversation to change topics. He turned away again and licked his lips, facing Yami. I can't believe he broke that thing in half.

Yugi watched Yami with a tilted head. He's got strong jaws, he said somewhat dismissively. If he were at the clinic, my mom would be freaking out that he'd managed that. She'd probably be checking his teeth for fractures and examining his gums for bleeding. Antlers are those long lasting chews that are meant to be there basically forever. Dogs wear away at them and eventually get them down to the point that you have to dispose of them. And they can last for months. Yami just broke a full deer antler in barely ten minutes.

Jonouchi shuddered. If he was a regular dog I'd be horrified.

You're already horrified.

Okay, well, I'd be more horrified.

Yugi laughed and shook his head. Maybe, he answered. Then he moved to sit up straighter, at first with the desire to crane his neck back and stretch. But then he saw movement and froze, head snapping around.

Across the clearing was a leaner black wolf with glossy fur. His ears were tipped white and his eyes a bright teal as he approached Yami. Yugi recognized Otogi in a heartbeat now that he was focused on him, but he wondered where the wolf had been lately. He felt that he had not seen him in a while and it made him anxious to witness his presence there now. It was something which made him shiver as he blinked at the two dark-furred males.

Yami looked up with a large chunk of his antler hanging halfway out of his jaws. Yugi blinked and tilted his head curiously before leaning forward and pricking his ears. Yami's antler fell out of his mouth and Otogi wagged his tail lazily, bowing before the other male playfully.

And then the red-eyed wolf wagged his tail in turn and got up. He grabbed at the antler in his mouth and tossed it into the air. The momentum was weak but Otogi still jumped for it, catching it and wagging his tail happily. And then he tossed it and Yami leapt for it.

Yugi tilted his head curiously. They were playing catch? It was strange to think that the wolves might do something of that intent. Entertaining themselves and each other was not something that Yugi doubted them capable of. It was simply that he had not imagined that anyone would be brave enough to approach Yami with that intent.

Did Otogi know what had happened? Did he have any idea what it was that had caused the other wolves to hide away from him as they were? Yusei and Syrus were the only two brave enough to come near him beyond Mai, but Mai had been rather erratic in her behavior. She had run off on her own for a little while and then returned. And she'd approached Yami with a couple of presents from her patrol.

Yugi had been just as shocked as Jonouchi and Yami had. Because she'd come straight to his beta, trotting at a quick pace and dropping a bloodied deer haunch and a large antler. Yami had been so surprised he'd initially gotten up and backed away, confused. And Yugi had heard her say he needed it, that the deer meat would help him with his muscle regeneration and the marrow in the antler would allow him a faster recovery rate.

Yami had awkwardly accepted this, though initially he'd said someone else might need it more. Mai had sneered that she hadn't gotten it for someone else, then licked his cheek and told him to eat up. And then she'd turned and trotted away.

And Yami had uncomfortably set about eating. Some of the wolves had eyed him, perhaps envious or maybe curious and others possibly upset or simply annoyed, as he'd begun to dig into the deer haunch. Aki especially had seemed angered by it, mostly jealous and perhaps hungry for the idea of healing as well. Yusei had been rather surprised and curious, as if he had not expected that Yami would eat it. Jonouchi had been more confused than anything, then flustered as he'd asked Yugi if Mai had feelings for Yami in a somewhat panicked tone. And then Yugi had seen Syrus approach Yami, low and slinking and wagging his tail for a moment. He'd whined something and Yami had picked the meat off the bones, cracked it in half, and given it to the omega. Syrus had darted off with it, tail wagging and a rather proud expression on his face, as if he had somehow taken the deer down himself. He'd taken it over to Yusei and the other yearlings. And then they'd played for a long while, dragging the bone about and letting them each bite into it to eat at the marrow.

But now Yami was playing with Otogi as if they were litter mates and had done this their entire lives. It was a strange, rather startling idea, something which made him incredibly nervous for a moment.

It caused Yugi to feel something between coldness and jealousy. It made his heart ache, feeling abruptly heavy and estranged between them. He got up now, shaking himself out, and looked at Jonouchi.

Did he ever feel similarly to that now that he saw his interactions with Yami? Did he feel as if there were some kind of gap as well? Yugi could not imagine that he didn't. But he also could not imagine how he felt knowing as well that his memories of Yugi were in fact fabricated by the gods in order to allow him to camouflage amongst the other people in Japan…

He flattened his ears. Why did any of this have to be like this? Why did any of them have to suffer like this or know such differences like this? Why did the gods let such terrible things happen?

Yugi drew in a deep breath and turned away.

Yugi.

His head snapped right back around, eyes wide and ears pricked. He blinked curiously and raised his chin the smallest of fractions.

I'm hungry.

The two words were initially met with an extremely blank stare. Yugi considered him in absolute bewilderment, blinking again. And then he straightened a degree more and quickly stretched himself out as if it might somehow cover for his momentary confusion.

Okay. He glanced at Jonouchi after a moment, feeling oddly cold for the fact that he was not paying him full attention as well. He flicked his ears and faced him with a curious expression. Do you want to come with us?

In the corner of his eye he swore he saw a glint. Yugi blinked and his peripheral sharpened. Yami was staring at Jonouchi in turn, an almost expressionless gleam having come to his eye. The black wolf remained those few feet away, Otogi behind him playing with the broken antler alone.

Jonouchi glanced at Yami and, when he didn't see anything worthy of his concern, he murmured, Sure. Let's do that. I could use a run.

Yugi snorted and turned to Yami with a wag of his tail. The black wolf did not return the gesture, that glint in his eye gone but his former amusement dissipated with it. Now he simply looked at Yugi and then Jonouchi, and finally he turned and glanced at Otogi lazily.

The other black male continued tossing his small reward into the air, happily watching it land in the snow and pouncing on it seconds later. Yami wagged his tail slightly at the sight, which made Yugi nearly bristle with a flustered feeling, and finally turned back.

Yugi wagged his tail again. Yami seemed to consider him for a moment, then stretched out into something of a play bow. His rump wiggled and he wagged his tail as he stretched his forelimbs. Then he got up again, straightening himself out, and yawned. Are we ready? Or are we waiting on something? he asked immediately after.

No, we're heading out now. Let's go.

Yami trotted past him immediately, tail slightly raised and a fluidity in his steps that was much alike bouncing. The snow crunched softly beneath his weight and Yugi took to a pace a few steps behind, Jonouchi following at a similar length. They passed through the trees lazily, though Yugi did not find himself bothered with this.

Yami led them out towards the curve of the river, though now he slowed slightly and scented at the air. Yugi kept watching him, ears pricked and head tilted. He stood back as Yami stopped short and continued to sniff the air. He was leaning back and forth, sniffing as he turned his head every which way. It took him a moment to catch even a small hint of smell, and then he turned and trotted again.

Yugi did the same, following at the same pace he had before. Jonouchi trailed him just as lazily and Yugi watched Yami for a few minutes longer. The dark wolf padded down the incline of the hill and towards what Yugi thought to be something of a narrow valley formation. It was almost more the unsteady dipping trail of a river than anything, but Yugi knew it to be solid ground. There was no movement of water beneath the ice or anything of that nature.

Yami led them for only a few more minutes. And then he rushed forward. Yugi hurried after him, slightly alarmed as he growled softly under his breath and muttered, Yami, where the hell are we going?

Right down the bank, he said in turn, slowing down and sniffing at the air. And then he stopped and turned around, wagging his tail happily. Mai had said that she had managed to catch the deer after having gone after another, younger one. She said she'd broken its leg but she didn't know where it had gone.

Okay? Yugi paused. So that's what we're here for?

Yami wagged his tail faster. It's the easiest catch I've ever made! he announced, jerking his muzzle towards the lower incline of the snow-laden valley of area. Yugi turned and tilted his head with a flick of his ears. And then he lifted his chin once more, surprised, and wagged his tail as well. He was satisfied to see the animal locked in the snow beneath the dip of earth.

It lay in the ice, struggling for its feet. It had sunk too deep and now its movements simply left it winded. It was clearly exhausted, neck straining as its head turned back and forth rapidly. The red-brown color was smeared with dried blood along its shoulder. And Mai had bitten it on the head as well at some point or another for its face was covered in blood on the right cheek and had slight puncture wounds.

He was sure, had it been another wolf to have crossed paths with it, it would be dead and eaten by now. He was thankful that nothing had caught it while they were at the camp.

But then, he doubted the hellhounds were stupid enough to come into their territory again so soon.

Yugi shook it off and looked over to Jonouchi. He's right. This is absolutely the easiest kill we're ever going to make. He wagged his tail as his head turned back towards Yami. That's awesome.

The black wolf nodded and then turned and began down the hill. It was a slight incline but Yami paused warily at the edge of it. He crossed the snow for a few moments, traveling back and forth at a steady pace. Then he hesitantly pressed a paw into the snow in front of him and considered for a moment what might have caused the deer to get stuck. Of course, considering that they were not as adept in traversing within the snow. They sank into the snow unlike the wolves. They did not have webbing between their toes as he did. They had longer legs, stood taller, and they could jump easily through snow dunes instead.

But it still made him slightly nervous. He was not used to snow being enough to trap his prey. But Mai had also broken its leg, he remembered. So he could not imagine that it would have been able to struggle out of the snow due to it either. But this logic still made him bristle faintly as he tilted his head and looked off forward further into the snow.

The snow crunched loudly but did not sink further than it had moments before. The deer was staring at him, brown eye beady where it was turned towards him. Yami pricked his ears and tilted his head, glancing over his shoulder only when he heard the sound of Yugi approaching him in turn. He blinked and the white wolf slowed a step or two away. And, behind him, Jonouchi was awkwardly picking his way towards them, as if unsure which pocket of snow might be the one to swallow him like it had the deer.

Are you okay? Yugi asked, tilting his head. I couldn't tell if you were just nervous or if it was something else entirely.

Yami blinked and glanced back to the ungulate. No, I am fine. I just do not know why it is stuck here, he admitted rather uncomfortably. I do not know if it is because of the wounds or if it is stuck in a trap or if the snow is just that deep.

Yugi bristled and looked at the deer. If we were to grab it by the throat, we could pull it out. And that way we could see if its leg is stuck.

Yami was quiet for a moment, then nodded slowly. Yes, that might work. He moved towards the side and hurried to pick his way closer to Yugi's flank. The white wolf blinked at him, wagged his tail once, and then moved to join him.

The buck aimed its antlers at Yami. But the rack of keratin failed to reach him. And Yami was not alarmed by it in the slightest, instead wagging his tail with satisfaction. The black wolf tilted his head and parted his jaws slightly in anticipation. His mouth was watering as he came forward a step.

The deer tried again and failed and Yami merely licked his lips. I'll go towards the front. He sees me better against the snow than he does you. So you can stay at his flank for now and then you can grab him by the neck. I'll grab him by the muzzle afterward and we'll pull him out that way.

Yugi nodded slightly, flicking his ears and licking his lips. Let's do this then, the white wolf said immediately, wagging his tail and moving to Yami's other side. The black male hesitated for a moment, then slowly picked his way forward in the snow as he sunk into the ice crystals.

Yami licked his lips again and steadied his paws as he came closer to the deer. He could feel the earth dip rather abruptly, almost as if he were balanced upon a cliff wall. He hesitantly lifted a paw and lowered it into the snow, shifting his position and pressing his weight increasingly into the ice. He felt the snow rush up towards his elbow, a startling sensation, and he backed up again. He paced a few steps forward, then pressed his weight again into the snow. The snow crunched and came immediately upwards toward his elbow once more and he bristled faintly as he turned away and tried again.

It took him a minute to find enough room to get closer to the deer. The buck's head swung towards him again and he growled softly, wagging his tail.

Be careful where you step, Yugi. The incline is rather steep.

The white wolf nodded slightly, though his eyes were still focused upon the deer in front of him. He was bristling and looked almost amused as he picked his way forward towards the deer. He continued a few steps, ears pricked forward and eyes sharp as they bore into the deer's frame.

Yami blinked a few times, narrowing his eyes as he attempted to pick his way forward. He bristled slightly, then peeled his lips back to show his teeth. The deer thrust its head at him and Yugi hesitantly picked his way forward. The white wolf was careful in his footing, awkward and slow, and continued steadily through the snow.

The ice was loud but not distracting. Yami snapped his jaws and the deer let out a strange fearful call that reminded him abruptly of cats. He flicked his ears and tilted his head, listening as he considered the deer curiously. It let out another call and went unanswered but for Yugi creeping closer. The white wolf sank deeply into the snow and quickly jumped back a few more paces, picking his way more cautiously. It was not as if he would disappear beneath the surface as Yami knew deer sometimes did; wolves did not sink like that. It was simply that he didn't know how steep the incline was, nor how large the pocket. If they could not gauge this, then he'd rather not risk getting anyone hurt. Going into the situation blind was like asking for injury.

Damn, Yugi muttered. He shook himself out and looked at Yami with pricked ears, blue-violet eyes annoyed. I'm thinking he's just stuck. I don't think it's possible he would have triggered a trap. The snow is too deep.

Yami considered him for a moment, narrowing his eyes and growing somewhat relieved but puzzled as well. What the hell caused this?

I think it might be one of those natural pits. It happens sometimes. Yugi was moving towards the other side of the ungulate. He was awkward but somehow still precise as he picked his way there. He sank deeply into the snow, quickly recovered himself and changed his route once more. It happens with water erosion. It's probably from the incline and the flood from the ice when it thaws during spring. I think that's most likely the reason it's like this.

Yami flicked his ears forward and bristled faintly. Very well. He tilted his head again, then moved slowly towards the buck. He snapped at it, a feinting action. The wolf was rewarded with the deer struggling in the snow, aiming its antlers at him once more. It bought Yugi enough time to pick his way closer. And then the white wolf lunged.

The buck saw the movement in the corner of his eye. And his head turned, lowered as its antlers struck out. Yugi yelped, stumbling, and blood came from his cheek where he was struck. He stumbled back a few steps, licking his lips and growling softly.

Shit. Yami couldn't make it over to him without taking a minute or two and he didn't think the wound was too terribly deep. Yugi was not yelping any longer. But he couldn't move as he flattened his ears, peering at Yugi. The command for him to come over so he could inspect the cut lay on the tip of his tongue for a split second. Are you all right? Did he actually do any damage?

Yugi looked over, tail wagging and tongue lolling. No. I'm okay. I'm fine. He got my cheek but it hardly hurts anymore.

Yami was quiet for a moment. Then he glanced at the buck and back. Do you want leave him? We can come back here for it later. If we wait long enough, he'll be too tired to lift his head and—

That could take days to happen, Yugi objected, giving him a slightly annoyed look. And besides that, what if he gets buried in there? That won't fix anything. We'd have to work harder to get him out than we already are. You don't need to worry about me, Yami. I'm fine.

The black wolf considered him for a moment longer. And then he turned away again. If you are sure.

I am. I promise. It surprised me more than anything. He barely nicked me.

Yami still stared at the buck for a moment. Those eyes bore into his and he snarled low under his breath. He's still potentially dangerous. We might need a new plan for this.

Yugi shook his head. I think if he bucks at me, you could grab him by the mouth. It's not too terrible an idea, I don't think.

But the problem was that it was paying Yami so much attention. And that was not something Yami wished to deal with. Should he leap forward for its mouth and it turned on Yugi, it'd most likely get them both rather violently in the face.

He considered it. It had eight points to its antlers. Going against it head on would be extremely dangerous. He did not want to imagine the pain that might come from such a thing. Either of them could have an eye taken out if they were not careful. The antlers were weapons, after all, not toys. And Yugi could easily wind up wounded if he was not careful and decided to be self-sacrificing to avoid Yami getting hurt in turn. That made this even harder than it should have been.

But he also realized he could not ask Jonouchi to participate with them either. The other wolf was too new to his lycanthropy and Yami did not want to risk him getting harmed. And if he were involved as well, should he get harmed he was not sure how Yugi might react.

Wounded or not, the buck was still dangerous. And since it was stuck in the snow like this, it was able to lash out at them continuously and could not stumble on unsteady or cold legs.

Hypothermia would become a concern for it later, however, he knew. The right leg was broken and that was something that made Yami bristle for a moment. He was not strong enough himself to take a hit to his face or neck or chest. He'd survive it, but the impact would be painful and the recovery might be a rather long process.

He shook his head slowly and narrowed his eyes. He drew his lips back to show his teeth for a moment. Then he shivered and straightened the smallest degree. It was almost impossible to consider that he might be wounded in any manner. He shivered and bristled, unsure of which way they were meant to approach this hunt now.

He tilted his head, studying, and pricked his ears further forward. There had to be a way to distract it without either of them being harmed. It was impossible to consider that the buck was simply in the perfect position to fight them off. It was just not possible to him. It was not okay for him to consider this for more than a moment.

Otherwise it would lead him to doubt himself and Yugi.

And that would soon mean that Yugi would react badly to him in terms of the buck. He knew how volatile Yugi could be when he put to mind that he would do something. And he knew damn well that he could not stop him if he turned around and attacked the buck against his desires. Yugi was desperate to help him heal. He knew that. And he understood that Yugi would do as much as he could to fix this should Yami truly say he did not believe he was capable of killing the buck between the two of them.

But to consider it more, the only way they'd truly have a way to do it…

Is the snow too deep near his hip? You'll be mostly out of his line of sight.

Yugi blinked and turned to eye the snow. Yami could see him picking a path to find the spot in mention. And then he bristled and shook his head. I can get to him from here. It's not too deep. But am I gutting him? Is that the new idea?

It's safest. He will not be able to twist so far back to fight you. And he'll still be more focused on me. Yami looked at him for a moment. Yugi was eyeing the buck, gaze sharp and dark. He can't see you if you're that far back. We'll have to drag him out after he's dead.

Okay. The word was said without a single hesitation. Yugi turned to him with bright, almost burning eyes. Then let's get this done. You can eat up and we'll wait until you're done. Then we'll go ahead and head back afterwards.

Are you not hungry?

Yugi stated at the buck. Jonouchi and I will eat after you're done. You're the one who needs it more than us, aibou. When he turned to him next, his tail was up and wagging, eyes soft and warm. It's not a big deal for us. We're not sick or anything, remember?

Yami nodded only a fraction, ears pricked towards him and eyes darkened briefly. Very well. I think it will be easy enough to do this and drag him out of the pit. It should not be a problem to do this. He was quiet for a moment before turning to look towards Jonouchi as the gray and blond wolf hovered near the edge of the pit. He did not look inclined to come any closer, something which comforted Yami for the moment. I will help you to pull him out as soon as he is dead. I'll eat after we move him.

Yugi nodded again. All right. Let's do it.

Give me a moment to get his attention again. Go for his right flank, cut into his flesh near his back leg. He crept forward a step, pricked his ears forward, bristled, and raised his tail high into the air. The buck was staring at him pointedly as he crept closer again. But the snow was too deep for him to get any nearer than he already was. The buck focused on him when he snapped his teeth, antlers aimed for his face. He jerked back, snarling.

And Yugi watched for a moment longer. Yami wagged his tail, snarled, and then feinted. And now the white wolf leaped forward again. Yami snapped his teeth. And Yugi hit the buck at full force, teeth chomping shut on flesh. Blood sank into his mouth immediately. And the buck let out a small cry before turning on him. Yugi saw the antlers close to his eyes and nearly backed up.

Until he noticed that a second set of teeth had dug into its head. And they were tugging. The snow was crunching from the force of their movements. And Yugi shivered as he pulled back and craned his neck again to bite into the buck's flesh once more. It cut through the soft skin and tore it away and Yugi hastily swallowed it away. He dug back in immediately, the sweet blood making him nearly tremble for a brief moment. And then he tugged and tore at the flesh again.

The buck tried to aim for him again. But Yami held it in a vice grip. And, when it tried to pull out of his grasp, Yami thrust the buck's head into the snow. It was as if he were attempting to drown it beneath the ice. But the buck would toss its head and could only slightly pull from his grip. It was bleeding rather heavily now. The air was saturated with it.

Yugi tugged harder, then ripped into the entrails which he could see there. He chomped at one of them, then tugged hard enough to all but disembowel it completely. Yugi could see those beady eyes on him, the deer attempting to shove Yami away but missing entirely. Its breaths came out rough and heavy, the air white with each exhale.

Yugi shook himself out and looked to Yami. The black wolf kept the buck's head smothered within the snow. And, as the seconds passed, he slowly tossed his head back and forth sharply as if to break its neck. The buck seemed to try for its feet, struggling to keep from being thrown over. But it was still lying down and Yugi was not sure whether it might be able to sink further into the snow as it was.

Yami was shaking his head heavily, so quickly that Yugi was amazed that the deer did not go flying. But the neck did snap after a few moments, the force of it so loud that it made Yugi blink huge eyes and back away. The black wolf let go of the buck and panted, tongue lolling as he looked to Yugi.

The buck laid there, eyes open and wide as they became glossed over. Yugi shook his head and licked his lips. Its blood on his mouth was enough to make him almost quiver. He'd forgotten how nice it felt to hunt and eat his own catch, the feeling of accomplishment that came with it. Prey always tasted better when he caught it himself…

He blinked and shook himself out; he wasn't there for that. You okay? He didn't hit you, right?

Hmm? Yami muttered. He looked over, appearing almost distracted as Yugi himself was. No. Not at all. I am fine. He did not touch me. Are you all right? Your cheek isn't hurting?

No, not at all, he answered, wagging his tail again. I'm fine! Now let's go ahead and pull him out of here.

Jonouchi was staring at them with a tilted head and his ears pricked as he muttered, Do you guys need any help pulling him out of that ditch? Or are you going to eat him down there?

We're bringing him up in a second, Yugi answered, wagging his tail slowly and licking his lips to get rid of some of the blood. The sweet taste was almost enough to make his stomach growl. Just stay where you are, okay? I don't want anyone to get stuck.

Is it that deep? I thought dogs could walk in snow and not get stuck or whatever?

Yami grunted. Canines can walk in snow. Wolves have webbed toes for swimming and helping us keep from sinking in the snow. But we have no idea how deep it actually is. If one of us gets caught in the snow, it might take a little while to get them out.

But is it actually that deep? Jonouchi asked, tilting his head. Yugi thought he looked incredibly skeptical as he eyed Yami. It seems like it wouldn't be that deep…

Why don't you come down and get caught and then we'll find out? Yami answered wryly, annoyed now. I mean, that's always a choice if you'd really like to see why we're telling you to stay up there.

Yugi sighed, exasperated as he looked at the black wolf and flattened his ears. Really, Yami? Do you have to be so mean?

The black wolf huffed. I'm not being mean. I am simply pointing out that he is foolish. Personally, I do not believe that I need to babysit another wolf my own age, regardless of whether he was just bitten or not.

You were much nicer to me than you're being to him.

Yami turned to him with an unimpressed look. But I bit you. I did not bite Jonouchi.

Yugi tilted his head and flattened his ears further, a sensation of indignation swelling in his belly. He sighed, considering Yami for a moment, and then looked swiftly away. Yami had been a good alpha for the most part, despite his half-truths and various lies. He had been patient for the most part, even if he'd snapped at him every once in a while. But Yugi himself had been a rather lacking guide for Jonouchi. He himself had not done nearly as much for his best friend as Yami had for him.

He'd left it mostly to Mai, because Jonouchi had been head over heels the moment he'd met her. And now he could not quite find it in himself to potentially step on Mai's toes by way of saying something that might contradict what she had told him. And so Yugi had quickly found himself backing away from everything he could have potentially taught him.

He flicked his ears, then glanced at Jonouchi. The tawny wolf was glaring at Yami but thankfully he had not responded verbally. The last thing he wanted was the two of them fighting. Don't worry about us, okay? We'll be back up there in a minute with the deer.

Jonouchi blinked at him with something that seemed rather unimpressed…

And Yugi wondered for a moment if Jonouchi was fed up with him as it was. He would not have been surprised had that happened…

If you say so.

Yugi wagged his tail as if it might be a confirmation. And then he turned to Yami. He's just super grumpy all the time, isn't that right, Yami? he teased, diffusing the situation as best he could before Jonouchi might grow upset again. He looked back to his own beta after a moment, then turned to Yami and moved to grab at the buck's back leg. So then let's get that up there and not worry about it anymore, okay?

Yami grunted and moved to circle the buck for a moment, leaning forward to snatch at its neck with his sharp teeth. He grabbed it as Yugi tugged, the two of them pulling until the body began to slide slowly but surely through the snow. The resistance was little but it still made Yugi bristle faintly as he tugged it out of the snow and Yami breathed heavily as he helped to bring it over the lip of the incline. He and Yami both stepped awkwardly around Jonouchi who was staring curiously with a tilted head. Yugi released it when they were a safe distance from the incline, then moved a few feet away and took a seat. He licked the blood from his jaws and shook himself out as Yami began to dig in.

Jonouchi wisely chose to join him after a moment, though his eyes lingered longingly on the meal Yami was eating. He looked almost disappointed in the fact that he was not allowed to eat yet, but had he asked Yugi would have pointed out that hierarchy made a difference when it came to a lot of things for the wolves. And food was one of the most prominent times that this came to into effect.

Hungry? Yugi asked after a moment. Jonouchi was still eyeing Yami as he dug into his meal and licked his lips rapidly to clear some of the blood that made his muzzle shiny. The brown eyes were almost dilated with desire. Let him eat as much as he can and then you can have the rest.

His friend looked at him with a tilt of his head, confused. You aren't going to eat? he asked after a moment. But then he looked back at Yami and seemed to grow flustered. Although, with how he's eating, I don't think there's really going to be any left.

Yugi snorted softly. Of course there will be. He's not going to eat all of it, Jonouchi. That'd be all but impossible, even if he digests it faster than usual. He shook himself out again. He'd have to pick off it several times, not just once.

Jonouchi let out a dismayed whine. I'm never going to get to eat!

The white wolf would have rolled his eyes had he been human, but now he snorted again and looked at Yami. The black wolf was ignoring them pointedly, eating and licking his lips and swallowing such huge chunks Yugi was reminded of his eating the serow in the cave on the mountain's foothills. It made him nervous to remember that hunger that had possessed Yami back then.

He shivered at the thought, stomach knotting for a moment. He wanted for a split second to leap up and go over to him, to ask him if he was recovering at all as it was. Because it made him more nervous than he cared to admit.

---

Atem.

He blinked and flicked an ear, then turned his head to peer at him curiously. He tilted his head and pricked his ears towards him. Hi, he murmured softly, bewildered as the teal-eyed wolf came to his side. The gray wolf wagged his tail slightly, blinking once before moving to take a seat beside him. Yugi hesitated a moment, sure that somewhere else in the forest the gods had to have been waiting for them.

What was he doing there though? And why had none of them come to greet him yet? He reconsidered the idea, wondering if perhaps the wolf in front of him might have drawn him there for some reason. It was a curious thought and it made him wag his tail slightly as he took a seat in turn.

Did you call me here?

The gray wolf blinked, then chuckled softly, peering at him with warm eyes. Does it look as if I'm a god? he teased. No, I did not draw you here. But I did ask Morrigan to bring you. I wished to speak to you.

Yugi blinked, eyes stretching wide. Morrigan brought me? he asked softly, bewildered. Morrigan is here?

The wolf nodded. She is the one who I asked to bring you here. She is somewhere watching us. She is more forgiving of me saying anything out of line than Ra is. So I asked and she said yes and now here we are. He paused for a moment, looking him over for a moment before leaning forward to stretch himself out on his belly and lick at his paws. Lie down; I have a story to tell you.

Yugi tilted his head, unsure. He glanced around after a moment, and then moved to stretch himself out beside him. A story to tell me? he muttered softly. Am I going to like this story?

Frankly? No. You'll hate it more than you do anything else. the wolf replied with pricked ears and a tilted head. He wagged his tail after a moment, licking his paws again. Yugi wondered if he was fidgeting or if he was anxious or if something else entirely was happening. But you must know it. It's important.

He nodded after a moment, considering him with a tilt of his head again. I won't argue about learning something else, he said reluctantly. He watched him, searching his face and wagging his tail slightly.

Right, the wolf laughed, shaking his head. He was quiet for a moment, green eyes soft and warm before slowly sharpening. I came to know of Code Name Atem through a legend that my parents used to tell me in order to get me to sleep. They used to tell it as a fairytale. They used to give him a happy ending. And I grew up with the idea that Atem was meant to live a life of pure happiness as a child, face a small handful of trials before maturity, and then to have a perfect ending afterwards.

Yugi nodded slightly.

It was when I was about twelve that I came to realize that no such thing can happen for anyone. My pack was murdered violently by a group of hunters. My mom managed to hide myself and my brothers away in order to allow us to run from it all. We made it out of the territory and traveled from Alaska through Canada and towards Washington. Washington was so far away that it gave us time to recover. And it was sheltered enough that we could hide around for a while. The wolf trailed off for a moment, watching him curiously. After a month or so of hiding there, we decided to travel again. We moved towards Wisconsin, where there were rumors already of werewolf-like creatures. They call them dog-men. And they consider them the American werewolf. And that is how we came across another wolf pack.

Yugi tilted his head. Echo's?

The wolf smiled at him, eyes warming further. Yes, I ran across Echo's pack. She was traveling back to Washington but she'd gone there with a few of her wolves to speak to the alpha there. She attacked me and I fought her off. My brothers came a second or two later, then had to stop when she said that she wasn't going to hurt us. She just wanted to see if I could fight because I was only twelve at the time. He fell quiet after a moment, then shook his head and licked at his paws once more. Anyways, she brought us into the pack and we prospered there for about four years. But I got a message from Slifer and she said that I was meant to head to Japan.

He bristled faintly. Slifer?

The wolf nodded. Yes, Slifer. Slifer was the one to tell me to go there. But it was Ra who told me exactly where. And Obelisk told me what it was that I was meant to do. He was silent for a moment. A faraway look crossed his eyes and then he shook his head and narrowed his eyes. My mother apologized to me a month or so later, telling me that she let me believe that it would be a fairytale because she did not think that I would come to do it otherwise. She wanted me blind to the suffering that would come from interacting with you and Yami. She said that it was necessary, even though I do not know that I fully agree now that I am able to truly understand it.

Yugi tilted his head, eyes widening in surprise. She lied to you?

She did not lie, I suppose. She mostly made a sacrifice of me and my brothers. He was quiet for a moment again. His ears pricked and that faraway look came once more. And then he shook himself out and stretched. It was not cruelty that drove her, Yugi. And I'll admit it took me until the month I realized I would die to understand that. It was the fact that she knew if I was not as I was, I might not have been able to go so far as to help release the wolves in the labs like I did. She could not prepare me any other way…

He nodded slightly. Yugi wasn't truly sure how to respond to that of all things. It just sounded more like cowardice to him. But then, he had hid being bitten from his friends and family. But that hadn't led to them dying either, though…

Okay.

Regardless, I came to Japan. And I was guided to Hokkaido, to a rather large home centered in a large stretch of acres of wood. Obelisk led me to the tunnels soon after and told me that I would find the reason for the many dreams I had and the stories my mother told me as a pup. He was quiet for a moment again, then he smiled a little more. He lowered his head to his paws and his eyes grew glazed as if he was sad or perhaps mourning something that Yugi didn't know. Before I did it, though, I called my brothers and Echo. And I told them that I knew that Atem was there and I told my brothers I needed them to stay there. Echo was freaked out that I told her not to come after me since I was her beta.

Yugi nodded again when there was a long moment of silence. The wolf glanced at him after a moment, as if he were unsure of whether he was paying attention any longer. Then he wagged his tail and looked away again.

I let the humans running the experiments find me. But I outwitted them and ran for it when I got too scared to let them catch me. They managed to poison me at one point, with wolfsbane and silver and an anticoagulant so that I couldn't bleed myself to get the infection out without killing myself in the process. He flicked his ears. A man in a mask grabbed me. And I was beaten until I was all but dead. I was brought back to the labs and dropped into a cage separated and isolated at first. And I think originally it was because the vet chose to put me there to heal me. But when I attacked one of the guards they put me in a cage with a rabid wolf.

Yugi blinked. Yami.

Yes. He looked as if he were relieved that Yugi was saying the name, as if he had lost what tension in his body remained during the storytelling. He looked at him with brilliant green eyes, an expression of such adoration that it startled him visibly. The wolf wagged his tail once more, expression of such soft warmth that Yugi wondered how it was that he could have ever considered holding a flame to it. Abruptly he was sure that this canine had loved Yami more than he did, that somehow he'd had a completely different reason to do so and the spectrum which his affections existed on was far removed from Yugi's own and so more powerful by extension. Yes, I was put into a cage with Yami.

The white wolf studied him. He told me he was feral.

Yes, he was in a similar state as the one he was in when he killed Obelisk. He was violent and feral and he nearly killed the man who threw me in there with him. How Yami did not kill me in turn is beyond me. But he took to healing me instead. The wolf fell silent for a moment. He and I were both half-dead. And I bit him in a panic when he was checking on me to see if I was still alive. He let me eat most of his food, drink most of his water, and even gave me blood when he realized that it had helped me recover faster.

Yugi nodded slowly and tilted his head, studying him more pointedly now. If Yami had enough of the disease in his blood that it had healing qualities then that meant that his own had to too, right? Yami said he was a Full-Blood and his lineage extremely strong. It had been a lie, he knew, but if he was a Pure-Blood as well, then Yugi could expect the same results if he were to ever have to share his blood, right? He had to have the same qualities in his own blood, right? And his blood had to be powerful enough to help others with the worst wounds and sicknesses…

I healed and he seemed to stabilize afterward.

He said something similar.

The wolf smiled at him in amusement. I have the feeling that you're growing impatient with this story.

Yugi felt flushed as he shook his head hurriedly. He was thankful that wolves couldn't blush, shaking himself out to hide his embarrassment as best he could. N-no! Not at all. I just… He frowned and flattened his ears against his head. It's not that I'm impatient with this. I just… Never mind. Please continue.

He shook his head, laughing softly. He stabilized and slowly he began to ask me questions about things. He asked all about my life outside. He asked about the world that I was a part of that he wasn't. He was clearly miserable and malnourished and I remembered those stupid stories that my mother had told me, the little fairytales and how life was meant to be easy. He craned his neck up, then moved to sit and stretch until his back popped, turning to him with something of a reluctant expression. And I figured that, should I be unable to have that, I could attempt to give that kind of thing to Yami. So I decided that I would try to lessen his burdens in that damn place. I aided in his recovery from every wound they inflicted and I helped heal him when he was poisoned during experiments. I gave him extra food and water and I made sure that he didn't spiral back into a feral state. Every move he made I was watching and analyzing.

That almost sounds like me right now.

Yes. The wolf wagged his tail lazily. It is much like what you have begun to do with him now. But at the time I didn't have a name to call him because I refused to call him by the title of the project he was named after. And he did not respond to it very well as it was. He was so sickly half of the time and he was so young; it was terrible…

Yugi nodded again when he trailed off, but couldn't find it in himself to speak for the sake of not scaring him away from concluding his story.

When he was in that cage with me, I decided that I had to do something. He was getting a lot of unusual attention. And there were rumors that things were happening with you that everyone was fearful of. My brothers were captured about a month or so after I was. And they were thrown into cages not far from mine where we could converse through the cells without drawing attention. He trailed off. I convinced them to help me to get who we could out of there. Of course, Atem was the top priority, but we needed more than just him to be released. We couldn't have held the guards off on our own otherwise. We planned it out for a long time. And then, that last day there—

All right, a voice cut in, one familiar enough that it made Yugi immediately turn around with a wagging tail. The she-wolf did not pay him the slightest attention, instead facing the green-eyed wolf. Enough. He cannot know that part. Not yet.

The gray male blinked, then moved to stand up. My apologies, Morrigan. He looked at Yugi and wagged his tail lazily. Looks like our chat has to stop here, Atem. Maybe some day soon I'll finish this story for you.

Yugi frowned, eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them. Why can't he finish? he asked softly. He pricked his ears, frowning at her. He's not telling me anything new that I don't already know—

But he would if he continued, Morrigan replied, voice firm but not as sharp as Yugi would have expected it to be. Instead she looked at him, wagged her tail once, and continued. Sweet, sweet little Atem, I cannot allow him to tell you more. You'll understand later, when all is said and done. But for now you'll have to be patient and trust that I know what it is that needs to be said and what is to remain a secret.

His blue-violet eyes narrowed faintly before he grimaced and looked at the other male. All right, but when this is all over, I want an in-depth story—one without all of these vague phrases and pretty words. I want you to tell me everything. Because I need to know more than the surface that you're scraping at.

The wolf wagged his tail, dipping his head. Then you shall have it. He turned away and began to trot out into the trees. Yugi watched him go before turning to the she-wolf in front of him.

Are you going to force me to wake up now?

Morrigan looked at him with cunning in her eyes and a smile that was both mocking and affectionate. Is that how Ra and Slifer wake you? They force you to do so? she said softly. Well, regardless, I have no plans to force you from Paradise. In fact, I know you have questions for me. So why not ask them now that you're here?

Yugi blinked and nearly shivered. She truly was the easiest to speak to at times, wasn't she? She was the one who was rather transparent for the better part of it all. She did not snarl or sneer at him more often than not. And she was more forgiving when he made a blunder. It was no wonder now, as he looked at her, that she had brought him there as the other wolf had requested.

I wanted to talk to you about Valon.

Ah, yes, my dear son. She smirked at him after a moment. What about him?

I just wanted to know about his father. Yugi hesitated as the she-wolf considered him curiously. And a little about Kris. Is she the same as he is? Are they both yours and Hati's…?

Kris? She is very much the same as Valon, simply younger and female. Morrigan eyed him as if he were a small pigeon for a moment, somewhere between disdain and laughter. Then she turned away and began to move past him, walking slowly to allow him to get to her side. They have the same father. And as for Hati, you shall meet him when the time comes.

Yugi pricked his ears. Why not Skoll? he muttered, narrowing his eyes and staring at her more pointedly. I mean, why have children with only Hati?

You ask that as if I might care enough to mate with two males instead of just one, she dismissed, tilting her head and staring at him with a blank expression. For all your attitude towards the matter, I might as well have lay with Obelisk as well.

He blinked, then huffed. No, Slifer did that. She and Obelisk mated and made Annie. And Annie bred with…whoever until she got enough litters to make up that pack, he answered in turn, flustered. And I already know that hellhounds and lycanthropes can't reproduce. Yami told me that a long time ago. But that wasn't what I meant.

Morrigan laughed softly. Ah, mortals are so cute when they come to their own conclusions about things. She turned to him with a small smile, tilting her head. But I will say that I am curious about why it should matter. Valon remains neutral in this fight. And Kris is far too young to become involved with all of this chaos.

Yugi shook his head. I know that. I just wanted to know if they really do have the same father. I know that they're not the ones that I'm going to have to fight in this war, but I'm curious and it seems stupid not to ask.

Do you fear my daughter? Morrigan teased. She's only six.

The white wolf sighed. Okay, so apparently you're not going to tell me anything. Thank for that.

No, I shall not. As it does not matter. There is no reason for me to tell you something like that when it has no bearing on anything. And it is not as if you are foolish enough that you cannot guess. But you shall meet both of them soon enough as it is, so I do not assume to believe that it will be of much importance for me to tell you why I chose one over the other. In fact, Hati himself will probably do that for me, I'm sure.

Yugi nodded and sighed again. All right, fine. He fell quiet after a moment. It wasn't as if he had a true reason to ask. It was more curiosity than anything. But he did have to wonder what exactly the three Harbingers were capable of, if they all could do the same as the next could or if they were limited… I haven't seen Valon around in a while. Is he okay?

Ra would lose her mind if she heard the genuine concern in your voice, the she-wolf sneered. But she was not being sarcastic or disdainful. She sounded far more amused than anything else. He is fine. He is not harmed in any manner. He has been taking care of Kris. She has begun to change prematurely. And, as I'm sure he's told you, his foster family has no idea what he is.

Yugi tilted his head. He said that you chose them specifically, because it was camouflage. Is that true? he asked softly. Did you choose his human family?

I did. Morrigan fell quiet for a moment, then snorted softly. I chose them because of their physical similarities to him. Kris is a brunette as well, and she has the same huge blue eyes, though now they've changed. Regardless, I chose them and I altered their memories and changed their thoughts from having their own children after their son to adopting the two of them. It is amazing how easy it is to manipulate the human mind.

Yugi didn't respond for a moment. Instead he stiffened, head snapping up and fur rising into a bristle. Was that who he thought it was in the tree line? Was that truly who he assumed it to be? He felt dizzy.

What's wrong, Atem? You don't like seeing people who tried to kill you before?

He bristled more fully as the wolf continued forward. He snarled low in his throat, tail rising into the air, and struggled to keep from lunging at them. But the wolf hardly seemed malicious in any manner. And his aggression looked oddly out of place when he could see no body language to match his own. Yugi drew in a deep breath, shaky.

The wolf came to a stop a few feet away. Lavender purple eyes bore into his, then flickered to Morrigan and back. You really do run with hellhounds, hmm? he murmured, in a tone that was almost friendly as he considered the she-wolf. Morrigan snorted loudly, trotting past him and laughing.

H-how do you know about that? Yugi snarled. You shouldn't know about that.

No? the wolf commented dismissively. It's the biggest news in this forest.

Yugi snarled low in his throat, backing up a step. But the wolf hardly seemed malicious in any manner. In fact, he took a seat and hardly seemed to care for the anger in Yugi's expression at all. You really should be watching your back. Did you honestly think I was the only one who wanted you dead? Marik said quietly, shaking his head and regarding him with curious eyes. You're forgetting that Yami is not well-liked among the wolves. And you made some mistakes in leading them. Aki is one of the few that is still held by the idea that she's meant to follow Atem no matter what. She might fight with you, but she's still loyal to the cause. It's the others you need to watch. It's the others that you have to keep your eyes on.

Yugi paused, then pricked his ears forward, shaking his head. Why are you even telling me this? I tore your throat out, he snapped.

Marik blinked and then shrugged his large shoulders, looking relaxed and with such clarity in his eyes that Yugi was almost scared by that alone. You did me a favor in doing that, he admitted. Unlike you or Yami or his cage mate over there, I didn't have much stability. My mind was warped. And now it's clear. I am not nearly as…disfigured mentally as I was before.

Yugi shook his head again. And you're not mad? he asked slowly. You're not mad that I killed you or that your sister helped me cover it up? What about how she lied to you every day of your life whenever you interacted with her?

Marik blinked again. Hatred doesn't exist here. Or maybe it does, but the burden of it doesn't exist in me any longer. You can remain angry should you desire to. But I do not have that same anger that I did before. And I do realize that she did it for a reason. I do realize that she did it to save the real Atem.

Yugi stared at him for a moment, then looked away towards the snow.

But, I do not have the same affection that the others do towards those interacting with you. And I will have to leave you with this simple word of advice again, Yugi. Marik locked eyes with him now, the lavender irises brilliant and glowing for a moment as he peered at him. You need to watch your back. You need to regard everyone as a possible traitor. Because things are not going to get any easier from here.