Black Roses666: Thanks for the reviews, guys! Here's the update!

Jazzy Uchiha: Well, wait no more!
Darklight03:
That part shall be explained in the near future…
Mina the Mischevious: You'll hate anyone who tortures my OCs…
Tantei39kunoichi: Would you stop wondering if Ur is gay!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of YGO…

Note: This is in Bakura's POV

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CHAPTER 3

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Weary traveler, I am none other than the so called Thief Lord. My name is Bakura, but you have no need to fret for I am not writing this to curse you, but to thank you for taking time to read my side of this whole mess. I thank you for taking time to read my side of life.

Both my mother and sister died when I was young, leaving me to live with my father, and a very close friend of mine named Kanika. I never did want to be a thief, to be honest. I didn't want to be a bandit; that is, not until I have completely lost everything worth living for. On the fateful night when they left me on the sand to die as my precious village, Kru-Elna, burned into ashes and my best friend, Kanika was stolen away from me, I began to think, is there still hope of seeing her again?

And so my story begins here…

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Crimson eyes fluttered open, a hand shooting up to protect them from the blistering heat of the sun, and the blinding sunlight. Bakura's white hair was dusted with sand, his head throbbing in pain, his stomach yearning or food.

"What happened…?" he asked, hearing no answer but the wind blowing the golden dust around.

Images came to his mind; the burning sun glistening in the Nile; the face of his best friend smiling in sheer happiness; the smoke that flew over Kru-Elna; the untamed flames engulfing the small community; the soldiers killing those in sight; his friend being stolen, away from him.

Bakura sat up, hand clutching his hair as he looked back on the previous events. Tears misted his vision as he saw it all happen again, as if he was traveling back into the past just to witness it once more in front of him, over and over again.

"Those fiends…how could they do such a thing…?"

"They are the Pharaoh's guards. They do whatever the Pharaoh tells them to do, no questions asked, no exceptions. Their pity and love was taken away from them so they live by the law…" a deep voice replied from behind the five year old boy, immediately making him jerk his head towards the tone in both surprise and fear.

His eyes laid upon a man, probably around his 30's, with the same white hair and crimson eyes as the younger one; the man had a dark shade of brown for his skin; and a black cloak around him, concealing whatever clothes he may or may not have underneath.

Bakura couldn't control himself at the sight of the man. If he weren't afraid, he would've registered the tone of the voice then and there, but it took him longer than expected to regroup.

Nevertheless, he managed to find it in him to throw his arms around the man's neck, burying his head into his chest, allowing the tears to flow freely from his eyes in both happiness and sadness.

"Father; oh, father; I thought you were dead!" he cried, gripping the older man's black coat as if urgently seeking for shelter in its warmth.

"You don't have faith in your own father? You know better than anyone else in the village that it is almost impossible for me to be captured and killed. I'll never die easily, not even Ra could kill me now…" Bakura's father patted his son's head reassuringly, not being like the famous thief everyone thought of him as.

"But…they burned down the village and they…they…they stole Kanika!"

"I can see that they burned down the village…but what is that you said…? They stole Kanika; Kanika Zahra; the child of my old friend?"

"Yes, then they left me here to die!"

"Fuck…fuck those bastards…"

The older male let out a frustrated sigh before lifting his only son and hoisted him over to sit on his shoulder.

"Come with me…" he said, "there is something you need to see…not all hope is lost…"

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Bakura's father brought him to their home…or moreover what was left of their humble abode. Most of the walls that protected them from the outside were eaten away by the flames and the roofs that sheltered them from the sun seemed to cease existing. After throwing some of the excess furniture, all which were burnt, they stumbled across a hatch; its golden handle glistened under the sun amidst the ashes.

The older male firmly gripped the golden piece and lifted it, opening and revealing a hidden room underneath, with stairs leading down to it. It was like an underground tunnel.

"What's that place…?" Bakura asked his dad as the older one started to venture down towards the unknown room, still carrying the younger one on his shoulder.

"It's a secret door found in almost every house. We built them in case of emergencies such as this."

"Almost every house…? So that means we're not the only ones alive…?"

"It actually depends if the others were fast enough to reach the secret rooms…"

The two then arrived in an open area which had numerous crates stacked one on top of another around the perimeter. How they were able to see the crates was thanks to the sunlight which poured down onto them through the holes that burned out on the surface above them.

If the Pharaoh's guards looked down from there, they would immediately discover the secret rooms; but thank Ra that they were too busy in their killing to notice.

Bakura jumped down from his father's shoulder and rushed to one of the nearest crates that he could open. Moving the lid away, he found money; golden coins, and a lot of it. Opening another, he found every weapon he himself could think of. Opening yet another, he found a good supply of food.

"Wha…what is this place…? Why are all these things here…?" the smaller one questioned, blinking in amazement.

"Half of the gold and food I steal are placed in here along with my spare weapons just in case." The taller one replied, looking back at his son.

Bakura remained silent; his look of shock soon became a look of sadness as his hand involuntarily clutched the golden piece wrapped tied by his necklace. He hoped and prayed that Kanika was all right, and that she still had hers.

"Hey, stop worrying, okay, son? Why don't you go outside and check on who survived? I'll fix up everything here. Just go to me when you're hungry." His father smiled and ruffled his son's hair.

'So…this is how we're going to live for now on…'

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As Bakura's old man prepared and checked their remaining items left, and arranging them so they wouldn't be so unorganized, Bakura followed his advice and decided to check on the other survivors of the painful ambush.

He made some new friends with the kids who were ushered into the secret room by their parents fast enough, but he couldn't help but feel that they were all different from her. She was the closest one to him; they were so close that they were oftentimes mistaken for lovers or siblings rather than just friends. He was desperate; he wanted to see her again.

Bakura ran back to his father, not in his usual happy personality, with a question brewing in his mind that he needed to verify after thinking of what to do with his life now that his main source of happiness was gone.

At the arrival with his father, he straightened himself up, trying to look courageous, and started.

"Father…do you think that Kanika's…" he paused for a moment, swallowing hard as images started to flood his mind, "do you think she's…"

"Dead…?" His father finished for him, "I highly doubt it…she derives her looks from her mother so they wouldn't expect her to be the daughter, nor have the blood of such a major thief…"

"So…what do you think happened to her…? If she hadn't left us yet…then what did they do to her…?" Bakura swallowed yet again.

"She is most probably a slave…she will serve the palace for the rest of her life…and if she even attempts to escape, Ra knows what they would do to her…"

"Is it possible to…see her…? Can I see her again…? Is there even the slightest chance…?"

His father chuckled at the comment. Shaking his head, he thought, was his son really that desperate to see his friend? Was he really that determined?

"Once again, I highly doubt that theory. You look like me and you have my blood coursing through your veins…sorry to disappoint you, son, but with those traits, there isn't even the slightest chance of you seeing her."

Though it was the truth and the truth is bound to hurt, Bakura, being so young, couldn't handle the harshness of such fate bestowed upon him, leading his eyes to mist over, tears threatening to fall down. As his father, the older male couldn't stand seeing his only child left to suffer so much. His heart dropped as if weighed by an anchor at the sight of the tears.

Oh well, there's no choice left in the matter but to give his son some hope at least.

"You know…every once a year, the palace holds a tournament to decide who is eligible to become one of the palace's guards…if you join that tournament, then they won't think of you as to being my son, and if you win, there may be a chance that you may see have a higher chance of seeing Kanika again…"

That did the trick; Bakura's eyes sparkled with hope.

"All right, father, teach me how to fight…"

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And that was how I began my life after the fire incident in my beloved village, Kru-Elna. I trained my days away, striving to be one of the greatest fighters in all of Egypt in order to be alleged as one of the Pharaoh's royal soldiers and increase my chances of seeing Kanika again.

I had a goal in my mind, and I never, not even once, removed the thought for what I was fighting for. I knew it would take time, but it would be all worth it…

But…

Who knew I would see her again ten years later?

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Black Roses666: And this is how this chapter ends. Please review so that I have a reason to continue!