Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own it.
Chapter 1: Cuddly Kuriboh
Simon stomped down the palace halls; poll in hand. He went through this same endeavor everyday now, since the pharaoh had put him in charge of caring for and teaching the prince. He'd said he was the best for the job, which translated to he thought he was a good babysitter.
Unfortunately, no matter how much of a good babysitter he was, the prince was a brat. He liked to play hooky from his lessons, everyday, so everyday Simon had to go and fish him out of the big pots, which decorated the palace. Today, however, was the last straw. He would take no more of this, he was going to put his foot down and demand that the little brat show him some respect and co-operate. Well, he would do that in the least harmful and emotionally painful way he could, because doing anything to upset the prince would ultimately upset the pharaoh, which wasn't something he intended to do.
He approached another one of the big pots. He stopped at it; taking the poll he was carrying and jabbing it into the pot. It hit the bottom with a CLANK. 'Hmm, not in this one either.' He thought to himself, continuing down the hall. A few pots later, instead of making a "clank" when he stuck the poll in the pot, it yelled "OWE!" and he knew he'd found the prince.
Atemu raised himself of the pot, rubbing his spiky head where Simon had hit him with the poll. He looked at Simon, a truly cynical look in his eye, growling under his breath.
"What was that for?" He demanded.
"For disobeying orders, AGAIN, and trying to get out of your lesson. I'm not teaching you all this just to torture you, you know. It was your fathers request that you learn so that-"
"Yeah, yeah so that I'll be ready to claim the throne someday. But I don't even want to be pharaoh."
"That's ridiculous." Simon replied, "And so is the fact that you expect to hide from me in the same place everyday. Couldn't you at least be a little more creative than that?" Simon really didn't know why he was egging the prince on like that. He didn't like the idea of having to search the WHOLE palace for him everyday, but there was just something about Atemu's antics that he couldn't help but find somewhat...cute.
Atemu giggled, his crimson eyes regaining their typical, mischievous expression. "Well, I don't really need to. After all, look how long it takes you to find me everyday. You knowing where I am just makes it more amusing." Simon couldn't believe that he'd just been very badly insulted by a five year old. He grabbed the now laughing prince, and carried him to the room in which his lesson would finally take place.
Atemu sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor. His lesson was going as boring as usual. It started with a lecture by Simon during which he did anything but pay attention; twirling his golden bangs or counting the cracks on the stone floor. Today Simon chose to ignore the prince's lack of focus, because he knew that soon enough he would be having no problem holding his interests.
"Now, about today's lesson. I was speaking with your father, and he wishes for you to learn to summon the shadow monsters, so we're going to start right away. Now, this is one of the most difficult forms of shadow magic, so don't get too frustrated if it takes you a while to accomplish anything significant. Hmm, I think an easy monster like kuriboh should be a good start."
Simon pulled his millennium anhk out from under him tunic. He showed Atemu how to summon one of the monsters using his ka monster, Gaia the fierce knight. Atemu was now giving him his full attention, as Simon knew he would. After the summoning was complete Atemu looked at Simon, confused.
"How did you summon him without a tablet?"
"Gaia is my Ka monster, which means that he's a part of me and I don't need a tablet to summon him. Someday, if you become strong enough you'll probably have a ka monster, too. Of course, yours will be quite different from mine, since as the name suggests it is your ka, and shows your inner self. But for now, you can just use the tablets to summon monsters, why don't you give it a try now?"
So Atemu did as Simon had shown him and, just as Simon had suspected, managed to summon a kuriboh with no trouble at all. Well, summoning it was no trouble, but getting rid of it was another story. As soon as it was summoned kuriboh pounced on Atemu, cuddling him. "OREE!" it cried, as Atemu let out an oddly similar squeal, trying to wrestle him off. Simon chuckled. "I think he likes you." Atemu growled at Simon, obviously not amused.
When Atemu left his lesson Kuriboh was still following him. A little ways down the hall he ran into his older cousin, Seto. He excitedly retold the whole story of that day's lesson, in one breath. While he was gasping for air Seto looked over his shoulder to see the kuriboh. It smiled at him, or he assumed that it would have been smiling if it had any mouth.
"What is that?" He asked the smaller boy.
"That's kuriboh. He's the monster that I summoned, but he really likes me for some reason and won't go away now."
Seto laughed. It was typical for odd things to happen to his little cousin, but this one had to take the cake. He was being loved to death by a giant three-toed fur ball.
Seto smirked, "Well, at least now you don't have to worry about any of the palace cats giving you trouble." A look of anger crossed Atemu's face and he pounced on Seto. A wrestling match ensued. Seto allowed Atemu to get in a few good punches here or there, to make him feel like he was winning. But everyone knew that if it had been a real fight he would have won. At least, that was his opinion.
Atemu and Seto spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the stable. It was their favorite place to play. It was more peaceful, especially since there weren't tons of people hanging over Atemu's shoulder, stopping him from doing everything because it was "too dangerous" or "not the proper way for a prince to act." He hated it. He sat down on a pile of hay next to his favorite horse, a black Arabian mare. She nuzzled him. Atemu stroked her muzzle, and turned to Seto who had positioned himself on another hay pile next to Atemu's.
"Seto...I don't think I want to be pharaoh." He said grimly.
"What? Why not?"
"It's just...because I..." He paused, hanging his head down, "I don't think I can do it Seto." Tears started to stream down his face. It was the first time he'd ever told anyone about that, and it was quite a relief for him to get it off his chest. He choked on a sob. Seto hugged Atemu, trying to comfort him.
"What do you mean you don't think you can do it? Of course you can! You'll be a great pharaoh someday."
Atemu sniffled, "Really?"
"Yeah, I know you will." Seto said, smiling. That seemed to calm Atemu down quite a bit. Then he realized that he hadn't heard anything from his furry friend in a while. He looked around, but didn't see him anywhere.
"Hey! Where did kuriboh go?"
Atemu jumped up from his seat and started frantically searching the stable. The little guy had been kind of annoying, following him around like that, but it still worried him that he was missing. Seto helped, and after several minutes of search they concluded that he wasn't in the stable.
"Don't worry," Seto assured Atemu, seeing the look on his face, "We'll find him. He's probably somewhere in the palace."
"But I saw him come in here with us earlier. And the palace is huge, how do you expect we find?"
"Well, they always find you, so finding him can't be much harder. A giant hairball ought to stick out."
They retraced their steps several times, but couldn't find kuriboh anywhere. Atemu slumped down onto the floor. How was he supposed to explaining loosing kuriboh to Simon? He figured it was the last time that he'd ever get to summon a shadow monster. Then, a tall boy came running down the hall. He had an irritated look on his face, and his silky, blonde hair was going in just about every direction. He never seemed to have it tidied. The boy was Mahaado, the thirteen-year-old apprentice of the priest of the millennium ring. Atemu admired Mahaado; he was like his role model. Mahaado was always very nice with him; he didn't care that Atemu was a little kid compared to him, although he'd never show it to the other boys in the palace. He looked at Atemu with a face that said he was ready to kill.
"What's wrong?" Atemu asked him.
"Loose something?" He returned, pointing over his shoulder. Atemu giggled, Mahaado had found kuriboh, and kuriboh seemed to like him as much as he liked Atemu. He cuddled Mahaado's face; Mahaado cringed and looked back to Atemu. "Just get rid of it."
Atemu sighed. He'd really gotten to like kuriboh, but he knew he couldn't stay forever anyway. "Ok kuriboh, its time for you to go home now." He was about to go find Simon to ask how to return kuriboh to the shadow realm when he disappeared on his own.
R&R? Please?
Chapter 1: Cuddly Kuriboh
Simon stomped down the palace halls; poll in hand. He went through this same endeavor everyday now, since the pharaoh had put him in charge of caring for and teaching the prince. He'd said he was the best for the job, which translated to he thought he was a good babysitter.
Unfortunately, no matter how much of a good babysitter he was, the prince was a brat. He liked to play hooky from his lessons, everyday, so everyday Simon had to go and fish him out of the big pots, which decorated the palace. Today, however, was the last straw. He would take no more of this, he was going to put his foot down and demand that the little brat show him some respect and co-operate. Well, he would do that in the least harmful and emotionally painful way he could, because doing anything to upset the prince would ultimately upset the pharaoh, which wasn't something he intended to do.
He approached another one of the big pots. He stopped at it; taking the poll he was carrying and jabbing it into the pot. It hit the bottom with a CLANK. 'Hmm, not in this one either.' He thought to himself, continuing down the hall. A few pots later, instead of making a "clank" when he stuck the poll in the pot, it yelled "OWE!" and he knew he'd found the prince.
Atemu raised himself of the pot, rubbing his spiky head where Simon had hit him with the poll. He looked at Simon, a truly cynical look in his eye, growling under his breath.
"What was that for?" He demanded.
"For disobeying orders, AGAIN, and trying to get out of your lesson. I'm not teaching you all this just to torture you, you know. It was your fathers request that you learn so that-"
"Yeah, yeah so that I'll be ready to claim the throne someday. But I don't even want to be pharaoh."
"That's ridiculous." Simon replied, "And so is the fact that you expect to hide from me in the same place everyday. Couldn't you at least be a little more creative than that?" Simon really didn't know why he was egging the prince on like that. He didn't like the idea of having to search the WHOLE palace for him everyday, but there was just something about Atemu's antics that he couldn't help but find somewhat...cute.
Atemu giggled, his crimson eyes regaining their typical, mischievous expression. "Well, I don't really need to. After all, look how long it takes you to find me everyday. You knowing where I am just makes it more amusing." Simon couldn't believe that he'd just been very badly insulted by a five year old. He grabbed the now laughing prince, and carried him to the room in which his lesson would finally take place.
Atemu sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor. His lesson was going as boring as usual. It started with a lecture by Simon during which he did anything but pay attention; twirling his golden bangs or counting the cracks on the stone floor. Today Simon chose to ignore the prince's lack of focus, because he knew that soon enough he would be having no problem holding his interests.
"Now, about today's lesson. I was speaking with your father, and he wishes for you to learn to summon the shadow monsters, so we're going to start right away. Now, this is one of the most difficult forms of shadow magic, so don't get too frustrated if it takes you a while to accomplish anything significant. Hmm, I think an easy monster like kuriboh should be a good start."
Simon pulled his millennium anhk out from under him tunic. He showed Atemu how to summon one of the monsters using his ka monster, Gaia the fierce knight. Atemu was now giving him his full attention, as Simon knew he would. After the summoning was complete Atemu looked at Simon, confused.
"How did you summon him without a tablet?"
"Gaia is my Ka monster, which means that he's a part of me and I don't need a tablet to summon him. Someday, if you become strong enough you'll probably have a ka monster, too. Of course, yours will be quite different from mine, since as the name suggests it is your ka, and shows your inner self. But for now, you can just use the tablets to summon monsters, why don't you give it a try now?"
So Atemu did as Simon had shown him and, just as Simon had suspected, managed to summon a kuriboh with no trouble at all. Well, summoning it was no trouble, but getting rid of it was another story. As soon as it was summoned kuriboh pounced on Atemu, cuddling him. "OREE!" it cried, as Atemu let out an oddly similar squeal, trying to wrestle him off. Simon chuckled. "I think he likes you." Atemu growled at Simon, obviously not amused.
When Atemu left his lesson Kuriboh was still following him. A little ways down the hall he ran into his older cousin, Seto. He excitedly retold the whole story of that day's lesson, in one breath. While he was gasping for air Seto looked over his shoulder to see the kuriboh. It smiled at him, or he assumed that it would have been smiling if it had any mouth.
"What is that?" He asked the smaller boy.
"That's kuriboh. He's the monster that I summoned, but he really likes me for some reason and won't go away now."
Seto laughed. It was typical for odd things to happen to his little cousin, but this one had to take the cake. He was being loved to death by a giant three-toed fur ball.
Seto smirked, "Well, at least now you don't have to worry about any of the palace cats giving you trouble." A look of anger crossed Atemu's face and he pounced on Seto. A wrestling match ensued. Seto allowed Atemu to get in a few good punches here or there, to make him feel like he was winning. But everyone knew that if it had been a real fight he would have won. At least, that was his opinion.
Atemu and Seto spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the stable. It was their favorite place to play. It was more peaceful, especially since there weren't tons of people hanging over Atemu's shoulder, stopping him from doing everything because it was "too dangerous" or "not the proper way for a prince to act." He hated it. He sat down on a pile of hay next to his favorite horse, a black Arabian mare. She nuzzled him. Atemu stroked her muzzle, and turned to Seto who had positioned himself on another hay pile next to Atemu's.
"Seto...I don't think I want to be pharaoh." He said grimly.
"What? Why not?"
"It's just...because I..." He paused, hanging his head down, "I don't think I can do it Seto." Tears started to stream down his face. It was the first time he'd ever told anyone about that, and it was quite a relief for him to get it off his chest. He choked on a sob. Seto hugged Atemu, trying to comfort him.
"What do you mean you don't think you can do it? Of course you can! You'll be a great pharaoh someday."
Atemu sniffled, "Really?"
"Yeah, I know you will." Seto said, smiling. That seemed to calm Atemu down quite a bit. Then he realized that he hadn't heard anything from his furry friend in a while. He looked around, but didn't see him anywhere.
"Hey! Where did kuriboh go?"
Atemu jumped up from his seat and started frantically searching the stable. The little guy had been kind of annoying, following him around like that, but it still worried him that he was missing. Seto helped, and after several minutes of search they concluded that he wasn't in the stable.
"Don't worry," Seto assured Atemu, seeing the look on his face, "We'll find him. He's probably somewhere in the palace."
"But I saw him come in here with us earlier. And the palace is huge, how do you expect we find?"
"Well, they always find you, so finding him can't be much harder. A giant hairball ought to stick out."
They retraced their steps several times, but couldn't find kuriboh anywhere. Atemu slumped down onto the floor. How was he supposed to explaining loosing kuriboh to Simon? He figured it was the last time that he'd ever get to summon a shadow monster. Then, a tall boy came running down the hall. He had an irritated look on his face, and his silky, blonde hair was going in just about every direction. He never seemed to have it tidied. The boy was Mahaado, the thirteen-year-old apprentice of the priest of the millennium ring. Atemu admired Mahaado; he was like his role model. Mahaado was always very nice with him; he didn't care that Atemu was a little kid compared to him, although he'd never show it to the other boys in the palace. He looked at Atemu with a face that said he was ready to kill.
"What's wrong?" Atemu asked him.
"Loose something?" He returned, pointing over his shoulder. Atemu giggled, Mahaado had found kuriboh, and kuriboh seemed to like him as much as he liked Atemu. He cuddled Mahaado's face; Mahaado cringed and looked back to Atemu. "Just get rid of it."
Atemu sighed. He'd really gotten to like kuriboh, but he knew he couldn't stay forever anyway. "Ok kuriboh, its time for you to go home now." He was about to go find Simon to ask how to return kuriboh to the shadow realm when he disappeared on his own.
R&R? Please?