"Hello?" a boy called out, his voice echoing through the dark forest. The only light was from the bright moon high in the sky.
"This way, hurry!" someone yelled behind him. The boy turned at the sound of running footsteps coming his way and saw two adults running. The woman was pale-skinned with long black hair that flowed behind her as she ran. She was wearing black pants tucked into brown knee-length boots, a green shirt underneath a black corseted top with long off the shoulder sleeves. Around her hips was a quiver with arrows in it, however, her bow was nowhere to be seen. The woman also wore a black sash around her hips, a black choker around her neck, and gold hoop earrings in her ears.
In her arms, she held a small child with star-shaped hair. Running a little bit behind her was an older child who seemed to be about 9 or 10 years old. He was wearing black pants, brown boots, a red blouse, and a brown cloak.
Running up behind them was a man, her husband perhaps. He had pale skin like her with tri-colored hair of black with magenta tips and blonde bangs. He was wearing black pants, brown boots, a dark blue shirt, a dark grey jacket, and a brown cloak. In his hand was a sword with a grey handle.
"The cave!" the man yelled as he glanced over his shoulder, making sure no one was following them no doubt. The woman ran into the nearby cave, not stopping until she reached the end of the cave, the dead end. Softly, she sat the boy in her arms down on the ground and brushed the bangs out of purple eyes which held fear in them.
"Mother?" the other boy asked, sitting down beside his brother, shivering at the cold and dampness of the cave.
"Everything will be alright Yami," the woman said with a soft smile on her face. Her husband running up behind her and gently ruffling the older boys bangs with an affectionate smile.
"They'll be coming soon," he said softly to which the woman nodded, tears shimmering in her violet eyes. In one swift movement, she pulled her brown cloak off her shoulders and wrapped it around the older boy, typing the thin rope together at the neck.
"Yami, I want you to promise me something," the woman said to which the boy nodded, as their father was wrapping his own cloak around the younger boy.
"Anything," Yami answered back, his younger brother huddling close to him with a shiver.
"Protect Yugi, keep him safe," his mother said. "Can you do that for me?"
Yami didn't respond, he only nodded his head softly. His mother gave him a smile before reaching into the small pack around her hips and digging out a small silver medallion on a black rope.
"What's that?"
"Someone will come to find you, show them this when you see them, understand?"
"I understand," Yami said with a nod as his mother pressed the medallion into his palm and closed his hand around it.
"Estelle, we need to go," her husband said.
"I know," she said with a sad smile before kissing both of her son's foreheads, tears slipping down her cheeks. "No matter what happens, never leave this cave."
"I understand," Yami said tucking his younger brother under his arm.
"I love you both," the woman said before nodding to her husband, the couple rushing out of the cave and rushing off, just as a pair of fast footsteps ran past the cave.
"Wait!" the boy yelled as he tried to rush after the couple, the image fading from his eyes as he started to wake up. Just as the snow was falling.
That was when the dream ended.
Yugi awoke with a start and sprung up in his bed, the blanket covering him dropping to his legs. He heard a chuckle and turned to where his older brother Yami sat kneeling beside him. Yami was dressed in a pair of black leather pants, a black tank top, and knee-length grey boots. Overtop he wore a dark brown cloak with a hood
"Morning Little One," Yami said, causing Yugi to scowl at the nickname his brother had given him years ago.
"I don't like that name," Yami chuckled and ruffled his hair making Yugi whine and fix it, sending a glare towards his brother.
"Get dressed, we have to move out today," Yami said as he turned and walked out of the tent. Yugi sighed and climbed out of bed, getting changed into a pair of black pants, a black blouse, a dark grey vest, and black boots. Overtop he wore a dark brown cloak with a hood on it.
Heading outside of his and Yami's shared tent, he squinted at the bright sunlight. He noticed how many of the tents had already been taken down, many more following.
"Mornin' Yug'," came a voice from behind him. Yugi turned to see his best friend Jonouchi Katsuya, or Joey as he liked to go by. Joey had joined 4 years ago, a year after their parents were killed and Yami had taken the leadership position 5 years ago, he and Yugi became fast friends shortly after that. Joey had blonde hair which fell in front of his brown eyes. Beside him stood Yugi's other friends, Ryou and Malik. There would have been another friend, Honda, but he had gone MIA and was presumed dead.
"Hey Joey, how's your arm doing?" Yugi asked as he approached his friends. Joey's arm had recently been injured in a fight with a vampire in the recent battle and he had to stay out of the battle for a while.
"Better, thanks to Ryou here," Joey said causing Ryou to blush. Contrasting his pale skin and white hair, which fell in front of his brown eyes.
"It was nothing," Ryou said with a shy smile. He was the groups leading medical person, which everyone was grateful for.
"So, any idea of where we're headed Yugi?" Malik asked as the group walked to the main tent where Yami probably was.
"Not really, Yami just said we were moving up North," Yugi said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Do you think we're meeting up with Leah and Sean's squads?" Joey asked. "They're groups are up that way."
"It's a possibility," Malik said as he ran his fingers through the knots of his sandy blonde hair.
As they entered the tent, they saw Yami leaning over the discussion table, a map in front of him, his violet eyes studying. He looked up at the sound of someone entering the tent and smiled seeing the group.
"There you are," Yami said as the group saluted him. "Ryou, I believe Cassidy is looking for you," Yami said, Ryou nodded and headed off.
"Anything you need us to do Yami?" Malik asked to which Yami nodded.
"Yes actually, I need you two to go and help with unloading the weapons tent and loading them into the carriages.
"Yes sir," the pair said before heading off.
"What do you want me to do?" Yugi asked.
"I want you, to go and pack your stuff up," Yami said before turning and studying the map. "I'll be there in a few minutes.
"Gotcha," Yugi said with a nod heading back to the tent.
As he entered their tent, he noted how Yami's belongings had already been packed into his suitcase, which sat on his bed. Yugi turned and started to pack his own belongings into his suitcase. It wasn't much, just the changes of clothes he had and a picture he always kept beside his bed. The picture was of their mother and father, Estelle and Thomas Motou. Yami was 4 years old and Yugi was a few months old. Estelle held Yugi in her arms while Yami was sat on his father's broad shoulders. It was drawn by a family friend a little while before the vampire vs human war started.
Yugi quickly wiped his tears away, just as Yami stepped into the tent. He noticed the drawing in Yugi's hands and allowed a soft smile to grace his face.
"I remember when that was drawn," Yami said sitting next to Yugi on the bed. "You had only been born a few months before."
"I miss them," Yugi said staring down at his parents. He couldn't clearly remember his parents, other than a few memory flashes here and there.
"I know, so do I," Yami said with a sigh.
"Do you think we're doing them proud?" Yugi asked as he tucked the photo between two of his shirts. "After all, this is a life or death situation we're in."
"I think, they'd be proud no matter what we did," Yami said ruffling his brother's hair, just as a female soldier with jet black hair walked in.
"We're almost ready to go sir, all tents except yours have been taken down," the soldier said.
"And the fire pits?" Yami asked standing off the bed.
"We buried them sir," the soldier replied.
"Good," Yami said with a nod. "We'll be out in a minute." The soldier nodded and left the tent. Yami picked his suitcase up and turned back to Yugi. "Come on, we should get going."
"Right," Yugi said grabbing his suitcase and following after Yami as they exited the tent. As soon as they were out, a few of the soldiers went inside to take down the beds and load the beds and blankets out of the tent before others started taking the tent down. Yami and Yugi handed their suitcases to a few female soldiers who were in charge of the luggage carriage.
After doing a final check of the camp, Yami climbed onto his horse and turned towards the soldiers.
"Let's get a move on, with hope, we can get there before sunset," Yami said as he started to lead the march North. Yugi noticed Yami was talking quietly with Jason who was half vampire half human but sided with the humans as his mother was killed by the vampires. He was their spy and he was a great ally, of course, it took some getting used to at first.
Yugi trailed behind and chatted with Joey, Malik, and Ryou.
A couple of hours later, they arrived at the camp, which was a little smaller than what theirs used to be. Yami climbed off his horse and headed towards two hooded figures who pulled their hoods off. One was Leah, she had brown hair tied in a high ponytail and hazel eyes. She was dressed in a black knee-length skirt, a black long-sleeved shirt, black leggings, and brown boots.
The other was Sean, he had long brown hair tied into a low ponytail and blue eyes. He wore black trousers, a black shirt, and a dark grey vest, as well as brown boots. It was obvious to anyone that they pair were siblings. They shared the same mother but had different fathers. Who were all dead, of course, the joys of fighting against the vampires.
"Glad you made it alright Yami," Leah said with a smile.
"Yes, we ran into a few stray vampires but we took care of them," Yami said. Leah nodded before ordering a few troops to help with the unloading and setting up process. Yugi climbed off his horse and walked up beside his brother.
"Good to see you again Yugi," Sean said greeting the younger brother and Second in Command of Yami.
"You as well Sean," Yugi said with a smile.
"While they're setting up, shall we go over the plan before we debrief?" Leah asked turning her attention back to Yami who nodded.
"Of course," Yami said, the group heading to the debriefing tent and standing around the table, a large map lay on the table.
"According to our intel, their main camp is here and their supply tents are here," Leah said pointing to a circled area.
"What's the plan then?"
"Destroy their supplies before they can bring it to the capital and restock their supplies," Yami said and he analyzed the map.
"How far is their camp from the capital?" Yugi asked.
"This is the capital right here," Sean said pointing to the large city not far from the circled area. "I'd say a day, two at the most."
"Which means we need to strike fast," Yami said turning a soldier guarding the entrance. "Gather everyone in an hour, we need to debrief for tomorrow."
"Yes sir!"
"Tomorrow?" Yugi asked as he turned to Yami.
"Would you rather take on the vampires exhausted from the travel?" Yami asked giving his brother a teasing smile.
"No," Yugi answered shaking his head.
"Exactly, tomorrow night we strike."
An hour later, everyone had gathered in the debriefing tent, standing around the map, which had been pinned against the side of the tent so everyone could see it.
"Alright, listen up, we're only going over this once," Leah called out gathering everyone's attention. "Squad 1, you're going to go North with Yugi and head towards the main camp, keep an eye on things," Leah said pointing to a spot on the map. "If you see anything bad, send a signal right away."
"Squads 2 and 3, you're going to take the South trail and heads towards the supply tents where Yami and Sean will be waiting, we're going to blow these supply tanks before the vamps even know what hit them," Sean said pointing to another spot on the map
"At the time, the vampires will be coming to fight, Squad 4, you're going to take the East trail with Leah and destroy the vamps before they get to the others, but if anything happens, everyone prepare for a battle," Yami said pointing to another spot on the map.
"Everyone understand?" Leah asked, everyone nodded and Leah softly sighed in relief. "Good, dismissed, we leave an hour before sunset tomorrow."
As everyone left the tent to prepare for tomorrow, Yami noticed Yugi looking a little unsettled. He turned to Leah and Sean who were organizing some papers into files.
"Me and Yugi are going to turn in for the night," Yami said to which Leah and Sean nodded, Yami turned to Yugi and motioned for him to follow. The brothers then headed to their tent, which had been one of the first ones to be set up.
"Hey," Yami called out as Yugi sat down on his bed and started untying his boots. "Tomorrow will be fine, don't worry."
"Can I really trust you with that? This is a dangerous mission."
"Probably not, but I promise everything will be fine," Yami said as he slipped his boots off. Yugi sighed and changed into a pair of black pants and a loose white shirt, Yami doing the same. They both crawled into their beds and Yami blew out the candle on his bedside table. Yugi tried to fall asleep, but he couldn't help shake the feeling that something was going to go wrong.
With a sigh, Yugi crawled out of his bed and silently climbed into his brother's bed. Yami let a soft smile grace his face as he made room for his younger brother.
"Go to sleep Yugi," Yami whispered softly, closing his eyes once more as Yugi nodded and cuddled into his brother, before finally falling asleep.
Screams.
That's what Yugi heard as he walked around, seeing fire and pieces of broken weapons on the ground around him. Also around him, were the bodies of their troops and the troops from Leah and Sean's squad. Vampire's kneeled beside them, drinking their blood, the smell of copper lingering in the air.
"Yugi! Run!" Yugi turned to see his brother push him out of the way, just as a vampire was rushing towards him. Yugi's eyes widened seeing a sword plunge its way into Yami's stomach.
"NOOO!" Yugi cried out as the vampire sunk its teeth into Yami's neck and drank his blood, until his body was pale and unmoving. Yugi closed his eyes as tears streamed down his cheeks.
And then-
Darkness.