Yugi cracked open his eyes and was greeted by the pounding headache behind his eyes. He tried to shake it off as he took in his surroundings. He was in a dense rainforest of towering trees and damp mulch. He could barely see the blue sky ahead through the canopies and everywhere around him he heard various birds and calls but he couldnt see any animals, nor his friends. He was alone here. But that wasnt all: his clothing had changed too. His comfortable leather getup he enjoyed wearing was replaced with ripped linen, muddied from the ground beneathe him. It barely covered his midriff and the pants were torn at his knees. He looked almost like an urchin but at least it was something.
"Atem!" He called out but his voice was drowned by the trees.
He heard rustling nearby and looked. The Bush nearby was moving and he waited, heart pounding. Was it a person, his friends? Or an animal?
To answer his musings two yellow eyes appeared followed by a furry black muzzle snarling at him.
His eyes widened as he looked upon the creature stalking him down, preparing himself for the meal he was about to have and all Yugi could do was slowly back away, one careful step at a time until he heard the snap of a twig under his foot.
He had less than a second to move out of the way of the cat as it lunged towards him, claws spread and mouth wide as it's roar echoed through the trees.
He ducked and ran, weaving between trees and jumping over logs and bushes as it chased him down. He heard and felt the thump of it's paws as it hit the ground and knew it was close behind him but thankfully the trees offered him some protection.
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!" He yelled desperately. He had no idea if anyone was even nearby to hear him, or if his voice went unheard but he tried anyway as the cat gained it's ground, nipping at his ankles as he dodged it's claws.
Finally he saw a bright light and ran towards it, hoping that perhaps the Jaguar would be dissuaded from leaving the forest or that there was some kind of civilisation he could get help from. He ran as quickly as he could, his heart already burning from the sudden amount of exercise and his legs were quickly threatening to turn into jelly, but if he stopped now he'd be cat food. Just a little farther.
"HELP ME! PLEASE!" He shouted wildly but as he did he tripped and slid against the moist leaf litter and mud. He turned in time to roll out of the way of the Jaguar's pounce but it's claws managed to slash his shoulder. Yugi screamed and immediately grabbed his arm as if that would stop the pain and blood but the Jaguar seemed unphased, rearing his teeth and growling as it wiggled in preparing to pounce again. Instinct called to him and he moved in time to keep running towards the light.
One last jump over a bush and he was out of the forest to be met with blue sky and wide green fields of luscious grass, dotted with the occasional tree or shrubbery. No buildings though and now he was in a wide open space with a hungry predator on his heels; perhaps he was better off in the forest.
"Yugi!" He heard his name being called in surprise but his attention was quickly on the Jaguar that had pounced onto him, pushing him violently onto the ground.
Using his legs and arms he was able to keep the Jaguar from ripping his throat out and biting his face but his claws dug into skin painfully, ripping at his body.
"YUGI!" He heard their screams again, this time in terror.
"HELP ME!" He screamed loudly as he pushed the cat off him but as he did he felt his hands grow hot and a burst of fire sent the Jaguar rolling backwards off him. He shook his head, hissed at him and ran off into the forest, quickly blending in with the mystery of its darkness.
"Yugi are you okay?" Joey asked as he slid in beside him quickly, making Yugi jump in fright.
"I'm… I've been better." Yugi responded as he laid back down, allowing his heart and lungs to rest as his skin burned where the Jaguar had scratched him.
"How did you do that?" Atem asked him as he knelt down on his other side.
"Do what?" Yugi asked.
"The fire Yug, that was awesome." Joey exclaimed.
"Oh… I don't know… it just happened." Yugi said tiredly.
"Woah!" Atem said in surprise. Yugi followed his gaze to the wound on his arms as they glowed brightly. Steam seemed to come from them but soon the wound was healed, leaving only the blood that was beginning to dry on his skin.
"Wow you're healing." Joey said happily.
"That's… thats good. I'm just… gonna pass out...now." Yugi said tiredly. He closed his eyes and focused on trying to regulate his breathing but Atem and Joey both shook him awake quickly.
"Yugi stay with us!" Joey said frightfully.
Yugi pushed him off him annoyedly and glared a little at him.
"I'm fine Joey, just need to catch my breath." Yugi complained.
"Oh, good." Joey said bashfully.
"I hope the others are okay. You and I were lucky but if there are predators out here I'd hate to think the others are in similar situations Yugi was in." Atem said.
Yugi looked around now and saw it was only Atem and Joey that was with him, the others must have been elsewhere.
Atem and Joey wore the same clothes that Yugi wore, of course now Yugi's was more torn and muddied than before but now sported a dark red in places.
"Maybe we should try to find them." Yugi said as he lifted himself up to sit.
"Yeah but where do we start?" Joey asked. "Where ever we are is massive and I don't particularly want to go in that forest knowing what's in there."
"Not without some kind of equipment anyway." Atem agreed.
"Oh hey but Yugi can use fire so he can at least fight them off right?" Joey said excitedly.
"I have no idea how I did that though Joey, for a moment I actually thought it was one of you." Yugi said.
"Hmm, well whatever we do, we can't stay here forever." Joey said.
Yugi stood up with them and looked around, properly able to take in his surroundings.
The world was wide, vast and beautiful. If he hadn't recently been run down by a Jaguar he'd be convinced this world was therapeutic in its tranquility. In the distance was a village they could at least go to for food, shelter and hopefully some answers as to where they were. He figured they were inside the game, but he'd like a confirmation somehow. At least someone to explain the rules and limitations of this world.
"Why don't we go to that town over there and see what we can find out. Maybe the others are there too or will make there way after us." Yugi suggested as he pointed off towards the town.
"What town?" Atem asked. That was weird, it was a bit far but Atems eyes were keener than his.
"Oh I see it, but it's very far though are you sure it's a town?" Joey asked as he squinted.
"Yeah there are buildings and everything. You can't see it?" Yugi asked Atem. He shook his head after a while of squinting and shrugged.
"Nothing but faded hills. But we don't have anything else to go on aside from the forest behind us." He said.
"Alright, lets go check it out." Joey said as he lead the way.