Ripshipping (Ishizu x Thief King Bakura)

Ishizu knew she really wasn't supposed to be using the Millennium Tauk so much, but she just couldn't help herself. She had to keep reassuring herself that things were going the way they were supposed to. If they weren't, she might never see her brothers again.

Sometimes though, the constant staring into the future would start to hurt her head. She would lose concentration, her eyes would slip, and she would find herself staring at the past instead. She never meant to do it – in fact, she was pretty sure that the Millennium Tauk wasn't supposed to see the past. But the dizziness caused by the strain on her magic drew her eyes from what could happen to what had already happened…and for some reason, it soothed her aching brain.

Until she found herself watching a dark eyed, white haired young man from afar…and he turned around and met her gaze.

Ishizu barely had time to gasp before the air around her ripped with a sickening sound, and the man's tanned hand shot out. He grabbed her shoulder and Ishizu went flying towards the ground. Shock and terror fled through her as she realized that the sand felt as real as anything – somehow, this man had reached through time!

"Well, well, well, I thought someone was spying on me."

A rough hand grabbed her shoulder again and rolled her over. She struck out automatically, catching the scarred face on the jaw. He jerked back, and then Ishizu was on her feet. She watched warily as the man recovered.

"Well," he said, touching his lip gingerly. She had managed to split it in her attack. "You have bite, little cobra."

Ishizu drew in a breath. She wet her dry lips. Who was he? His dark violet eyes considered her with a cunning interest.

"You look very much like Isis," the man said softly. "You even have the Tauk. But you are not Isis, are you? Isis would have never let me sense her."

Isis? Who was Isis? It was similar to her own name; in fact, her name was based off of that name, the goddess of magic. It came to her slowly. She was in the past, and she had an ancient counterpart – she had seen the woman once or twice. This man knew her counterpart somehow.

And judging by the gleeful malice in his eyes, it was not a healthy relationship.

"Fascinating," he said, stepping towards her like a jackal towards its prey. "You are from the future…so…what to do with you now…?"

Ishizu tensed. They stared each other down for a brief moment, made longer by the fast working minds of the opponents.

The boy moved first. Desert sunlight glinted off of metal. Ishizu only barely twirled out of the way of a knife aimed for her side. The thick folds of her dress were thankfully flowing enough to allow her maximum movement, so she didn't trip over the hem in the attack.

But the knife attack only seemed to have served as a distraction. Instantly, the air was thick with magic. It was so heavy that Ishizu could feel herself starting to lose consciousness already. But shock and fear brought her to her senses – what would the boy do to her when she was unconscious?

With a massive effort, she flung the magic of the Millennium Tauk before her. Instantly, the past and future magics exploded around each other. Her ears rang with the screech of the opposing magics. Her eyes snapped shut at the light.

And when she opened them again, she was sitting in her dark, cold, empty apartment again.

It might have been a dream except for the continued ringing of her ears...

A/N: Ah, Bakura, you're not very good at making friends, are you? No, every time you meet a new person, you have to try and stab them *insert Forever Alone face here* Next is Ringshipping (Thief King Bakura x Mahad). Another TKB one, he seems to be on here a lot...at least this one takes place all in the same time plane.