Thanks to all of my reviewers: The Duelist's Heiress, Baka-chan, dancers of the night, Kyro and Spidey meets Wizard-Theif.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own YuGiOh! Or Cho-han bakuchi (Japanese game using dice).
This chapter has been revised.
.xCHAPTER 6x.
The Savage
Atem rose from the comfort of his bed, feeling groggy and slightly dizzy, attempting to remember the events of the previous night. The only thing he could remember was which bar he had visited. Deciding he needed some fresh air he changed and made his way down the stairs, gripping the banister tightly just in case his dizziness kicked in and delivered him a one-way trip to the hospital.
He didn't celebrate Christmas like his brother did, but he had left a small present for him underneath their small glittering Christmas tree in the corner regardlessly. Stepping outside however, he almost instantly regretted his decision to sit out and would have preferred to have stayed inside. Yet he didn't want to face a hyperactive Yugi and his sugar-high best friend just yet.
The day itself was miserable. Unlike yesterday, when at one point snow was falling in such a harsh way it could have been described as a blizzard, the grey clouds above were throwing down huge, heavy raindrops that drenched everyone that was unlucky enough to have to walk in it. The ground was covered in the day before's snow, now due to the rain a thick, grey slush that soaked the shoes and socks of walkers. Digging his hands into his pockets and hunching his shoulders over, Atem trudged through the town towards the museum, in hope of finding something interesting to look at whilst he waited for the rain to cease.
.xVAMPIRE CHILDx.
The rain, thundering down on the panes of glass that formed Yugi's bedroom window, had woken the three inside. They each listened as it splattered onto the double glazing, almost as though each drop was launched from a cannon at the window.
A fine Christmas morning... for ducks.
It didn't stop. Not just during the morning was this rain, but through lunch and into the afternoon. Yet this downhearted weather could not impose the same adjective on the Mutou household. Yugi, Ryo and Solomon, who were part of the 0.5 percent of people in Japan that celebrated Christmas, gave each other several gifts and cards completely giddy and smiling wide happy smiles. Marik sat nearby watching them, grinning himself but every now and then glancing out of the window or at the door, ensuring Atem was not about to jump out and grab him.
It was at about 2:07pm that the rain calmed into a mild drizzle.
Solomon walked into the living room counting a small amount of coins in the palm of his hand. The three teens were sat around the coffee table playing a game of Cho-han bakuchi, using sweets rather than money to bet with.
"I'll have to interrupt you kids. I need you to run to the shop to get me some noodles for tonight. I would go myself but I'm waiting for a phone call about those new board games I ordered." He held out the money for Yugi to take.
"Don't be long! I'm sure the rain will start again soon." He stood at the door watching the three make their way through the park, towards the shop. True to Solomon's prediction the rain got a lot harder. "I may have spoken too soon." He chuckled and closed the shop door to resume his place behind the counter.
.xVAMPIRE CHILDx.
Meeting somebody in the museum had definitely not been something Atem had wanted to do. Yet it happened, and seeing as there was nothing else to do, he approached the other hunter.
"I didn't know you liked it in here Kaiba." He said. Seto didn't look up from the glass case.
"Not until recently. I'd heard from somebody that there was a vampire hunting history exhibit in here and considering there is nothing else to do I decided to see for myself. It looks as though they were truthful." He motioned towards a series of crumpled sheets, on which were maps of the several countries and paragraphs describing the different methods of killing the vampires that inhabited the areas. Atem looked closely at these, admiring the procedures the old hunters went through just to rid their country of the scum. They seemed to have been more brutal the further back in time, definitely the correct way to treat them.
He read a few paragraphs on the vampire's ways of killing too, seeing that they used their strength most of the time to break the necks of their victims or simply tear them apart. Sometimes their fangs were introduced to hold the victim still so the vampire could rip it apart. Atem shuddered, but was warmed by the fact that their vampire had barely any fang length; they still needed to grow. The only information that was barely touched was how the vampires were created and their ways of hiding amongst humans.
He was brought away from the exhibit by Seto suddenly announcing that the rain was stopping. The two of them walked towards the exit.
The pair got to Domino park before the rain started thundering down again. Seto growled.
"Why doesn't it stop?" He shouted, flailing his arms about and stomping through the park.
Normally these actions would have caused Atem to chuckle and annoy his fellow hunter to a greater extent, but something had caught his eye.
"Kaiba..." He called.
"What?" The hunter snapped, stomping angrily back to the spikey haired male. The man raised his arm, pointing at three teenagers running through the park. Seto followed his hand and stared. Two of them were running from the third. One of the two looked like a smaller version of the hunter standing next to the brunet, the other had white hair and was taller. The chaser was blond and had deathly pale skin.
Atem's eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a snarl. "That vampire has gone too far! Nobody messes with my family!" The other smirked and looked at him.
"Lets get him then."
.xVAMPIRE CHILDx.
Yugi, Ryo and Marik entered the supermarket panting and soaking wet. They had run through the park in order to avoid getting too wet, but they considering how wet they were, they could have just walked and been just as worse off. The three wandered into the nearest aisle, looking through the shelves at the vast variety of food, turning into new aisles and feeling almost as though they were in a maze.
Then they froze in their tracks. Somebody was talking through the staff announcement system.
"ATTENTION ALL CUSTOMERS! PLEASE VACATE THE BUILDING AS SWIFTLY AND CALMLY AS POSSIBLE! LEAVE YOUR ITEMS!"
A series of protests and annoyed mutters erupted from the various shoppers in the store. Yugi turned to Marik, fear showing in his amethyst coloured eyes.
"That's my brother speaking! He must have seen you!" Yugi fretted.
"And we were running into the shop! He must have thought you were chasing us! This is bad! How will we get out?"
"Calm down! We can wait until everyone's gone then he'll come looking for us and you can run for it!" Yugi looked alarmed.
"What? You're just going let him get you?" Yugi looked completely alarmed at the vampire.
"No! But if he sees you with me you're gonna get it in the neck, that's why! If he asks you later say I started chasing you!"
"But-"
"I'm already hated by them, they can't hate me much more,Yugi just do it, ok?" He looked hesitant but nodded. "And you too Ryo." Ryo gave an exasperated look before jumping in shock as something crashed onto the floor behind them and a sneering voice called out to the 'snivelling vampire'. "Get a move on." Marik ran in an opposite direction to the two humans and towards the back of the shop, unsure of what to do.
He tripped over someone's foot.
"Marik!"
Marik sat up wincing slightly as he moved. The blond looked up, straight into the barrel of a huge gun.
"Well well, isn't it lucky I felt the urge to get some chocolate?" The hunter smirked, gripping the gun tighter. "Now, go to hel-"
"NO BAKURA!" The albino gave a strangled cry as Ryo tackled him, trying to tear away the gun. Marik ran blindly away from the flurry of white hair, seeing the door so close to him. WHAM!
The blond fell to the floor once again, having run straight into a brown haired male who had stepped in front of him as he reached the end of the aisle. His cobalt eyes glared menacingly down at him, a mocking smirk plastered to his face.
"Not bad for my first hunt eh? I step out and walk straight into my prey. Now I just need to end your freakish life." He grabbed Marik's shoulder, calling out to Atem. Marik started snarling and hissing, clawing at the man, his nails mutating into sharp spikes. The blond grabbed his captor's arm, twisting it back and squeezing hard. The man cried out and released his grip on the teen. He desperately pulled away, trying to break away from Marik's monster grip.
The teen rose, eyes flashing a faint red colour, he lifted the brunet's arm to his mouth and plunged his lengthening fangs into the skin. Blood rushed from the wound and the male screamed as Marik's fangs sank deeper. The vampire jerked his head, ripping the flesh, earning more screams of pain.
"KAIBA!" Atem darted forward, a knife glinting in his hand. He swung it wildly at the vampire slashing his cheek. The vampire howled and released Seto, glaring at the armed hunter. He snarled and hissed baring his dagger-like fangs, grown to a terrifying length and drenched in scarlet blood. Atem gripped the knife and his knuckles turned white. There was no doubt in his fear now, never in his time had he seen something like this. The vampire was turning savage right before his eyes, they weren't supposed to do that! Sure they would get angry and wreak havoc throughout all of the villages but they would never get so angry that they couldn't even speak!
Glancing behind the vampire, Atem saw Bakura throw his brother off and start heading towards the vampire, wooden stake at hand. Atem quickly decided to keep the vampire's attention, he jerked his knife hand towards Marik causing him to hiss and glare at the weapon.
Bakura was right behind him now and raising the stake, Atem jerked his hand again, one more second and...
Marik's hand flew through the air and caught the albino's arm, twisting it and making the hunter drop the wood. He span around twisting Bakura's arm back and grabbing his neck. Marik opened his mouth, revealing the long fangs, and rested them on the hunter's neck, they glinted cheekily.
Atem was frozen. If he moved the vampire would bite Bakura, but if he did nothing it would get away. He glanced at Seto who was knelt on the ground, clutching his torn arm, eyes wide with anxiety. He looked fearfully at Bakura, his breathing was heavier and he was shivering ever so slightly, but his eyes were fixed on him and were full of confidence, telling him to go ahead and kill the vampire. Then he glanced up at Marik, his eyes were blood-red now and full of mischief, he was still gripping Bakura's arm and squeezing harder by the second, pointed nails digging into his skin and drawing blood.
Yugi carefully approached the vampire, eyes wide with fear and shock.
"Yugi..." Atem whispered. "Stay back..." The boy ignored him, looking at the vampire instead.
"M-mar-rik?" He breathed, wincing as his cold bloody eyes glared down at him. They widened suddenly and looked tearful, flashing back to a deep purple. He released Bakura and pelted out of the shop. Atem and Bakura glared down at their brothers.
Marik ran out onto the cold streets, grey clouds covered the sky, throwing down more and more rain onto the young vampire's back. He ran into an alley and leaned against a wall, confused and feeling slightly sick. He slid down the wall, drew his legs up to his chest and wept.
Stopping to look up, feeling a presence he glanced at the entrance of the alley. Someone was stood there, clapping slowly.
"Bravo." He said, stepping closer.
"Well done, taking on those hunters...but now that I've found you, you won't have to worry about them much longer..."
.xCHAPTER 6 ENDx.