Chapter Two: Out of the Rain, Into Trouble
Amane left the following morning for the arts fair south of town sitting on her All-Seeing White Tiger Duel Monster, Ivory, and holding her completed painting in her lap while struggling to read the map that Ryou had brought back from an atlas at the bookstore for her.
She had headed into the Dark Forest hours earlier, and now unfortunately seemed to be very, very lost indeed. Nothing on the map looked like it was supposed to, and the forks in the roads were old and decrepit, so she couldn't make out the painted directions on them.
"Are you sure you'll be alright, Amane?" Ryou had asked her before she left, sounding concerned. "Maybe I should pack you some food and a cloak in case you get lost and don't make it before dark-"
But Amane had brushed him off, smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry, Brother, I've done this millions of times before…I'll be fine."
Amane felt very stupid saying those things now that she was cold, hungry and lost in the creepy Dark Forest. Even Ivory seemed skittish in this place.
The trees' branches interlocked above and around the girl and her Duel Monster, creating horrible faces and reaching claws in the darkening woods. Worse of all, there was foreboding rumbles of thunder that announced the beginning of a heavy, fog-inducing rain.
'Oh,' Amane thought to herself, looking up worriedly at the sky and around at the misty woods ahead of her, 'if only there was someone to ask for directions…why did the arts fair have to be on the other side of the Dark Forest, of all places?'
Then, out of the silence, Amane froze at the sound of a chorus of howls.
Ivory growled, pawing the ground nervously and looking around for the source of the howling. All that was around them, however, were what looked like a bunch of flower bushes moving slowly toward them…
'Moving?' Amane realized in shock.
And to her horror, she saw the things connected to the flowers weren't bushes at all, but violet-furred, hungry-eyed wolves.
She'd journeyed right into a pack of Flower Wolves.
Ivory immediately went off into a run and Amane held on as well as she could while still trying to hold onto her painting; the Flower Wolves pursued them, growling and biting at Ivory's heels. They seemed to be everywhere, obstructing every path Ivory attempted to take as an escape.
All of a sudden, Amane felt herself being thrust backward as Ivory made a sharp turn, throwing her off of her back and making her lose grip of her painting as she fell backward into the ground. The Flower Wolf pack chased after Ivory, and no matter how loud Amane cried, Ivory did not return to get her.
Amane looked down at her painting, and her green eyes filled with tears at the sight of its beautiful, passionate colors stained and ruined by the mud of the puddle it had fallen into.
'After all my work…' she thought miserably, 'after all that time…after this horrible day…I don't have anything to show for it! Now how am I going to win at the arts fair? For that matter…how am I going to get to the arts fair at all? For that matter…how am I ever going to get out of this awful forest and get home again?'
At this moment, however, Amane deemed it best to first get out of the bullet-like rain, and by what seemed at the time as a stroke of luck, she realized that behind her was a palace covered in moss but filled with a once-beautiful aura.
'Maybe someone there can help me!' she thought to herself.
The white-haired female hurried up toward the large door of the palace and knocked on the door loudly. To her surprise, her knocking was enough to make the door fall open, for it had not been closed properly.
Amane gently pushed the door open and looked around at the empty, yet majestic palace.
Despite the cobwebs and terrorizing stone gargoyles that peered down at her from the top of staircase banisters and around the ceiling, the inside of the castle was very beautiful in a mysterious way. The secretiveness of the place made Amane's artistic mind run wild; any kind of terror could be hiding in the dark shadows beyond the golden light of the candles lining each wall.
"H-hello?" she called out hesitantly, before she gulped and raised her voice. "Is anyone there? I-I don't mean to intrude, but…I'm lost…can someone help me?"
Unbeknownst to Amane, a Golden Retriever resting his head on the floor near the stairs lifted his head up, his ears perking up at the sound of the young woman's voice.
'A stranger?' the dog thought to himself inquisitively. 'After all these years…a real-life human?'
He got up and started toward the stairs as to investigate; he was stopped, however, when a suit of armor that had been positioned at the edge of the stairs placed his sword in his path.
"Don't even think about it, Joey," the suit of armor scolded quietly.
Joey gave the suit of armor the dog's equivalent of a glare.
"Bug off, Tristan," the Retriever snapped in irritation.
"What, you think Bakura's going to capture this girl and make her love him?" Tristan inquired waspishly. "You just think by telling her the whole thing, she'll throw her entire life away and fall in love with him? Hate to tell you this, but we're not stuck in a cliched fairy tale, Joey."
"Forget about the spell for two seconds, will you, metal-head?" Joey retorted, his blond tail twitching impatiently. "The girl's lost…it would be heartless not to try and help her!"
"You think she would trust you?" Tristan inquired. "You think she would trust any of us?"
"Probably not," Joey answered unconcernedly, moving past Tristan's sword and walking down the stairs, "but it can't help to try. Just because the King is ruthless until he falls in love and breaks the spell doesn't mean we have to be."
Tristan tried to pull Joey back, but the Retriever had already run down the stairs and hurried over to the stranger.
Amane blinked in surprise, before smiling at the yellow-furred dog.
"Hello there," she greeted kindly, scratching Joey behind the ears. "Where did you come from?"
Joey couldn't help it, but the attention to his ears made his back foot happily whap against the ground like a rabbit.
'Man…being a dog so long and not having anyone who could help me deal with these fleas? How the hell did I survive so long?'
Despite his enjoyment of human fingers scratching his itchy, flea-bitten spots, Joey quickly got back to business and moved away from Amane's touch.
"Don't be afraid," Joey said gently.
Amane jumped back, her eyes wide with shock.
"Y-you…but…I…you're a…!"
Joey sighed. "I should've known saying 'don't be afraid' wasn't going to stop you from being afraid…b-but don't run away!" he added hurriedly when Amane turned from him, looking ready to head back out the door. "We'd be glad to help you, really! Don't run away…"
Amane's eyes widened slightly at the very sad look in the dog's brown eyes.
"Everyone who comes here runs away," Joey tried to explain, his eyes downcast. "Once they see the others move…or hear me speak…"
"The others?" asked Amane.
"Don't tell her anything!" Tristan hissed from the top of the stairs. "It's none of her business!"
Amane stared at the moving and talking suit of armor. "How…how…?"
"Magic," Joey answered simply with a dog's version of a shrug. "Anyway…you said you were lost?"
"Y-yes," Amane stammered. "I-I was trying to get to the arts fair, but I got lost and a pack of Flower Wolves made my Duel Monster run away…and my painting got ruined in the rain…" she looked heartbroken just remembering her masterpiece lying ruined in the mud. "I-I just need directions to get back to White Willows. Can you help me?"
"Hmm," Joey thought for a moment, before sighing in slight disappointment and muttering, "Well…there's only one person who knows enough to do with maps and such…and that's Kaiba."
"Kaiba?" repeated Amane.
"Our chief researcher," Joey explicated, turning and heading back for the stairs, "and first-class prick. He should be in the library…come on, I'll show ya…"
But as Amane was about to follow him, the lighted candles along the halls suddenly went out, throwing the room into darkness. Joey yelped and Tristan shouted out in shock and fear.
Then, unbidden, Amane found herself being thrown painfully backwards into a cold, hard wall by a strong hand.
"Your Highness, please no!" Joey's voice shouted desperately.
Amane heard a shove, then a whimper of pain; Joey had been thrust backward against the opposite wall.
"Joey!" Tristan's voice cried out, his metal legs clunking slightly as he rushed to the dog's aid.
Amane looked up to the person who was holding her against the wall, to find two red eyes glaring in violent rage down at her.
She shrunk back in terror, her green eyes very wide.
"Who are you?" a very dark voice, presumably the owner of those horrible red eyes, growled dangerously. "What are you doing in my castle?"
"Y-your castle?" Amane repeated fearfully.
"Yes, my castle!" the voice retorted wrathfully. "What, are you saying that I can't be the ruler of this castle?"
"N-no!" Amane stuttered desperately. "I-I just-"
"You think I'm so much of a beast that I'm not allowed my birthright?" the angry voice demanded, his red eyes filled with insane fury.
"N-no!" Amane protested, shaking tremendously. "I-I meant no harm! I didn't know who lived here! I-I got lost in the woods and-"
"You're not welcome here!" the voice roared angrily. "I vowed by my parents' graves that no woman would ever set foot inside these walls after what she did to me, and I will not let that vow be broken!"
Amane felt a claw-like hand grab her neck and pull her up off the ground; the sharp grip tightened, and the girl squirmed desperately, choking as she struggled to breathe. Her thoughts and memories clouded together in her mind and flashed in a series like a fast-moving slideshow, as if she would never again see these images…bruises…Father…art…Mother…inspiration…Ryou…
"Your Highness!" Joey implored desperately. "Your Highness, have mercy! Murder and pain is exactly what made you like this in the first place! Don't repeat the past, Your Highness!"
Abruptly Amane felt oxygen return to her as the claw loosened its grasp, and she gasped in relief.
"You're lucky my pathetic servant cares enough about your meaningless life, little girl," the voice hissed. "For his sake…I won't kill you."
The hand released her and Amane felt herself hit the floor; even though she was very afraid and was still recovering from the lack of air, she involuntarily relaxed at the voice's words.
Her relief faded almost instantly, however, when she noticed the evil glint in the blood-red eyes.
"You came in here to escape the rain," the voice whispered in a very icy, sinister tone that made Amane's heart prickle with fear. "It would be cruel to force you back into the rain, wouldn't it? So…I'll be kind enough to let you rot in the dungeon instead!"
Amane felt the claw-like hand grab her by the collar, before she found herself being carried away roughly through the dark.
"Your Highness!" yelled Joey.
Amane attempted to pull out of the hand's grasp, screaming for Joey, Tristan or someone to help her, but no one came to her aid.
'Ryou!' she thought desperately, pleading that some of the magic that transformed Joey and Tristan might take pity on her and let her contact her brother. 'Ryou…brother…help me!'
"RYOU!" she screamed frantically, all sense and dignity forgotten. "HELP ME!"
Little did Amane know her cries were loud enough for Ivory to hear outside.
Her ears pricking up, the White Tiger looked toward the castle and knew in an instant that her mistress was in trouble. Without a second thought, the Ivory ran through the forest away from the castle, determined to find the person Amane was calling for.