Lockpickshipping (Thief King Bakura x Shada)
. . .
He's avoiding me,Shada thought to himself. Interesting.
This game of cat and mouse with the mysterious thief had lasted well over two weeks now, with each one of the seven priests taking it in turns to search for him. Mahad had already clashed with him twice now, and back then, it had been as though the thief was waiting for him, just ready to jump out and grab him. The other priests had reported similar incidents, with Isis having fought him once, Aknamkanon twice, and Karim no less than four times.
But this time, the thief was startlingly absent. And had been the last three times Shada had been on duty. Shada briefly closed his eyes to see if he could sense anything. It was faint but...yes. The barest hint of shadows, impossible to pinpoint. The thief was here—or had been, at least—but he was not willing to show today, either.
He appeared to be avoiding Shada, and Shada alone. How curious.
Well. If that was the way the game would be played...
Shada waved to his soldiers to spread out around the small town. The village contained only about thirty families, and there wasn't a multitude of places to hide. Besides, the villagers seemed terrified at the thought of the thief being around, so it wasn't like anyone was going to be harboring him. They would have to smoke him out by hand if he wouldn't come out himself.
Shada's fingers twitched to the key around his neck, but there was nothing around him to use it on. He simply found its weight...comforting. It lent a certain amount of security knowing that he had the item's permission to use it for his own protection, and the protection of others. At first, wandering Soul Rooms had made him nauseous, but now, he found it almost soothing to be able to retreat into the recesses of especially his own mind. His room was a place of peace, a temple that he had built slowly and surely through careful discipline of his thoughts.
His hands tightened on the reigns of his horse. He wondered what the thief's soul room looked like. It was probably full of blood and death and horrors unimaginable.
And then a shout rose up from one of the guards and a cry rang across the village. Shada swore, wrenching his horse around and kicking it to full speed. He reached the edge of the village in moments—one guard was already giving chase to the red fluttering shape that bolted across the desert while another fell to their knees beside another whose throat bled onto the ground.
Shada urged his horse forward—there was no way the thief could outrun him on foot!
Bakura's eyes flashed back and Shada saw his lips form a swear. He flipped open his stolen diadhank. Shada was already in motion with his own, calling forth the monster of his soul. Two Headed Jackal Warrior appeared with a snarl and snap of its jaws, charging the fleeing thief.
Diabound rose from the sands beside Shada's monster in an explosion of dust. Shada yelled, jerking his horse out of the way of the snapping cobra tail. The dust cloud wouldn't be enough, this time Shada wouldcatch him!
He bore down through the dust. Where had he gone? There! A flutter of red fabric.
Shada hurtled towards it. The thief's eyes glanced over his shoulder and there was a brief, satisfying flicker of surprise there at seeing Shada behind him. Shada drew his sword and swung. Bakura swore as he hit the ground in an attempt to escape, rolling and scrambling to his feet. Shada leapt from his horse in midgallop and swung his sword again.
Bakura caught the blade on the metal of his wrist bangles. His other hand produced a long knife and he hissed like an animal as the blade flashed for Shada's throat. Shada hollowed out just in time—the blade whistled centimeters from his skin. He slid into a practiced stance, matching the thief blow for blow. Bakura kept trying to dance out of reach and make use of space, but Shada was prepared for that, constantly bearing down on him so that he couldn't get too far.
"You can't fight forever," Shada said. "Give up!"
"To you?" Bakura snapped. "Never."
The blade shot for Shada's kidney but he deflected the blow with his own blade and went for Bakura's exposed side. Bakura flowed around the move and danced away again. Shada followed, the metal clanging together over and over.
This was getting nowhere. Shada had to think of something else—especially since he could sense his monster starting to lose ground to Diabound, and if that horrendous creature came for him as well as Bakura, he wouldn't stand a chance.
He grabbed for the key around his neck—if he could get into Bakura's soul room and temporarily rearrange it—
Actual panicflashed across Bakura's eyes. His knife shot up and sliced past Shada's fingers before they could touch his item. As Shada flinched, Bakura shot forward with his blade headed straight for Shada's heart. Shada barely managed to block the blow, but then Bakura was flipping the knife instead as though he were trying to—slice the cord of the Key?
"Trying to peep into my brain?" Bakura hissed as his blows grew more erratic, more frantic. "Trying to peer into my soulyou bastard?"
He's afraid, Shada thought suddenly. He doesn't want me to use the Key on him—he's afraid of his Soul Room.
Shada remembered the feeling, when he had been learning of Soul Rooms and learned to find his own, before he had even gotten the Key. To see yourself completely as you were—that was the power of the Key. The Rod impressed one's will on another, and the Eye could see glimpses of thoughts on the surface, but the Key—the Key laid bare all that you were.
He's afraid of himself,Shada thought with alarm. That's why he never engages me. He—of all people—is afraid of what he actually is.
The revelation almost made him lose his balance. Bakura took advantage of the distraction—but not to attack. To retreat.
He shouted at Diabound in the harsh, language of ka beasts and the creature shot to his side. Immediately, Bakura leapt up and let the cobra tail wrap around him. Shada could only watch as Diabound's wings snapped open and they shot off into the sky.
He stood there, staring at the sky for a long, long moment, his sword hanging at his side.
Bakura's fear might have just saved his life. Had he not feared the Key...he would have killed Shada.
Fear makes fools of us all, Shada thought. But...who would have thought...him?
He was still staring at the sky, Two Headed Jackal Warrior at his side, when the guards finally caught up to him.
. . .
A/N: I enjoyed that one. Next is Loatheshipping (Thief King Bakura x Yami no Yugi).
