A squire ran in petrified in fear, "Captain! Pirates! Pirates are heading our way!"
The Legendary Fisherman and the Dark Magician immediately sprung to their feet. Mayko rushed outside his cabin door throwing his cloth mask over his face. Dark Magician quickly followed concealing his face from the view of the ships night crew. He stood next to the captain gazing out to the vast Nile River. A swarm of ships with black sails awaited them up them up the river. Mighty ores extended from the sides, cutting the water's surface as they rowed the ship from its spot….on the hunt for passing ships.
"What do we do what do we do!" the squire whimpered in fear.
Legendary Fisherman: "Awaken the troops! All hands on deck!"
The squire hurriedly ran to the main mast and began ringing a huge cast iron bell.
Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!
The sound carried all across the river and into the very bowls of the merchant ship, disturbing the sleep of every crewman and seafighter
Even down below in the cargo hold the piercing echo aroused the human refuges from their slumber.
"Urrrrrh, what's going on?" Neverteri asked in mid yawn, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dim light.
Bakura sat up more alert and listened carefully, "Sounds like trouble."
Tristan: "Then let's check it out."
And with that he was already halfway up the stairs to the upper decks.
Yugi sat up and rubbed his eyes sleepily. For a quick moment he sensed that something was not right. And it wasn't the oncoming attack. He saw his brother's cloak next to him with no one in it. "(Gasp) Where's Joey?"
Tea got up and placed her hands on his shoulders, "Don't worry we'll find him."
Bang crack!
"Ah!" Joey grunted after his body was thrown onto the wooden feed crates in front of the stalls, breaking them in the process.
Keith gave a hearty laugh and dusted off his hands, "What a wimp! I've fought corpses that have a more fight then you do"
The blond struggled to get back on his feet and whipped a smudge of dust and blood from his chin. "At least I know how to fight fair."
"Fair!" the overgrown brute laughed, "Fair is for losers. I prefer to cheat and steal my way to the top. And once I find that royal kid and those rebels out east, Dartz is going to make me a very wealthy man."
Joey reached behind him into the stall and griped handful of the manure. "Well I hate to disappoint you but you'll never find him if you searched under every sand dune in Africa."
Bandit Keith folded his arms amusedly, "Oh And what kind a of proof to you have?"
Joey then whipped his hand forward releasing the dung onto his attacker's unsuspecting face. "This!"
"Ah!" the taller blond man backed away in surprise (and disgust). Scraped his hands repeatedly to shave off the warm clingy substance. "ARG! You little turd!" with that he lunged at Joey again blinded by rage.
Without warning a flash of white dodged in between them, grabbed the bandit Keith and shoved him overboard.
"Goodbye Keith."
SPLASH!
For a brief moment Joey was a little aback of who exactly had saved him in that brief terrifying moment. Once his focus returned he soon recognized the distinguishable long white hair. "Bakura!"
The thief turned around and smiled down at him, "Yugi got a little worried so we went to search for you."
Just then a large arrow/spear plunged through the wall.
Creak tunk!
The two boys froze in their place, starring at each other and the assault weapon that landed only a mere inch from skewering little Yugi at the stable entrance.
Boys: "Gee!"
"Yugi are you alright!" Joey practically screamed stumbling to his feet and running to the door.
Tea poked her head out the door behind the smaller boy, "What's going on?"
Joey: "I guess you heard the bells too."
Tea: "Yeah. We then heard you guys screaming and went to search for you."
Just then the whizzing sound of more missiles flew overhead. The camels and horses quickly backed up to the end of their stalls to get away from the threatening sounds.
"You're timing is good too, sounds like there's some serious action going on up there." Joey stated while checking the bandage on Yugi's arm (from scraping against Mayko's sword earlier) and for any other wounds.
"Is it Dartz forces?" Tea nervously stuttered. She gazed at the stair leading to the main deck expecting a hoard of soldiers marching down to get them.
"No. It's something else," answered Bakura. He stood strait up, frozen with caution as he tried to listen in to the world outside the stable, "lets go. I don't think the cargo hold is safe anymore."
Everyone raced outside with the crew racing up the stairs. The main deck was a mess workers hurrying to set up shields, ready the defense weapons, and set the sails for an easy getaway.
Curiosity overriding fear Yugi instantly recognized Dark Magician at the mast and ran strait to him.
"What are you doing here?" Imhotep asked startled and lightly pushed the boy behind him, "It isn't safe up here."
Yugi slipped in front of him again to get a better look. As he did so three of the foreign ships had slipped alongside theirs glaring angrily at each other's crew.
The other refuges gathered next to the Dark Magician and the Legendary Fisherman to get a better look. Despite the distance they could see the tattered and blue-feathered armor of the savage-like crew aboard the enemy ship.
Tristan: "Who are they?"
Mayko: "Bedouins. Enemies of Egypt."
"What do they want?" Tea said shaking in fright and held on close to Bakura's robes. The albino thief wrapped an arm to comfort her.
"Captain!" a sailor shouted running up from the lower decks, "We've taken some serious damage in the cargo hold. The chamber is filling up with water!"
Imhotep looked to his friend who now had a shade of gloom over his face, "What now?"
"You have to get the children to Serabit Khadim."
More arrow-like missiles soon came hurtling toward them again. They plummeted into barrels, posts, ropes, floors, and even unsuspecting sailors whose troubles were now over. Imhotep, the captain and the other quickly dropped to the floor to avoid any other attack.
One missile tore through one of the ropes connecting the sails. The canvas sail swung around madly to the wind.
The ship then began to capsize to the left throwing everyone off their feet. Quickly the grabbed hold on the wooden railing as that side of the deck was nearly at a 180 degree angle.
Imhotep quickly glanced around to see that all his groups was still in one piece. Joey. Tristan. Bakura. Tea.
Wait! Where's Yugi!
He looked downward to see the small boy at the other side as it slowly leaned into the water, "No Yugi!"
The wild canvas swung around over the side of the deck and broke off the railing sending it and the boy overboard and into the Nile.
Yugi pulled and dragged himself to the surface. He gasped his head up for air but received only a lung full of the cold river water. "Gah, pit pit! Joey! Glub glub…Joey!"
Joey slid down the other side and held onto one of the broken railings, "Hang on Yugi!"
The younger boy struggled to keep himself above the water but the current of the river and the waves of the ships dragged him below. "Joey!" he called just before the water consumed him.
His brother's eyes widen in fear, "No! Someone get me a rope!"
"There's no time!" Bakura shouted as he ran passed him and dived into the water.
Joey reluctantly released the picket and slid off the ship.
"Hey wait for me!" Tristan shouted next literally running into the water.
The ship was already halfway capsized, and Imhotep, Tea, and a few of the crew members were hanging to dear life on the remaining railings.
"Go on!" Mako shouted to his friend. "Go on and save the potentials!"
Dark Magician: "But what about you!"
"Don't worry! The sea is my life!" with that he placed his fingers to his lips and released a loud piercing whistle.
The water below began to bubble a little before a large shark burst out of the river. Mayko released himself from the side of the ship and landed on top of the sharks back. He plunged his hand into the water and drew out a long jagged spear. "We'll handle these buggers here. You just swim for it and tell the wife I'm going to be a little late coming home!" The legendary Fisherman then swan off on the shark and charges toward the enemy ships.
"Is he going to be alright?" Tea asked slowly loosing her grip.
"Knowing him the only one you should be worried about are the Bedouins." Dark Magician answered as he wrapped an arm around the former Mayer and plunged into the water with her.
Splishing and sploshing the few survivors dragged themselves to the shore. One by one they collapsed on the floodplain.
"(huff huff) How is he?" Tristan rasped to Bakura while punching his own chest to release any water from him lungs.
Joey and the others looked up from their spot to see Bakura drag Yugi to shore he laid the boy down and felt the side of his neck, "He's alright, just knocked out."
"Thank the gods." The yellow haired teen sighed and held him in his arms.
"Yo Joey!" Joey heard from across the river as he laid the unconscious Yugi down on the sands. He turned around to see Keith and some of the other survivors swimming to shore.
Keith: "Looks to me like I've got all the horses!"
Disgusted Joey stood up and marched to the waterline, "Hey Keith! Look's to me like you're on the wrong side of the river!"
Seeing as the other boy was right Keith gave a hard frustrated kick in the shallow water.
"Yugi….Yugi…." a voice echoed from what seemed like from a far distance in Yugi's mind.
"Yugi wake up."
But the voices seemed so far away. Like a shout moving against the winds during a fierce desert storm.
In front of his eyes a dark dusty haze clouded the sky above. Faint yet blinding light shone through but no heat could be felt. "Wha….what happened..?"
Without knowing it his eyes shifted down to the white and gold palace surrounded by lush green vegetation and wild colorful flowers.
However outside the beautiful stone walls the peace was broken by the thundering of hooves and the pounding of countless soldiers charging across the sands.
Prisoners and slaves carried loads of arrows, spears, and stone boulders for the army as they headed toward the palace.
Slaves: "With the sting of the whip, on my shoulder,
With the salt, of my sweat of my brow,
elo him god on high,
Can you hear your people cry?
Help us now, this dark hour,"
Yugi gasped in shock when he took a better look at the slaves. They weren't just humans, but monsters also! Monsters from the shadow games!
The army cracked their whips against the backs of two ogar battle guards as they carried a large battering ram to the gate.
Slaves and Monsters: "Deliver us!
Hear our call deliver us
Lord of all remember us here in this burning sand,
Deliver us!
There's a life you promised us
Deliver us to the promised land
The images turned to the border of the battle and palace grounds. Within the tall stone walls people from guards to servants were running madly to hide from the danger or to join the outer defenses. A woman in a dark blue and purple cloak hurriedly ran through the halls clutching a small parcel inside her robes.
Woman: "Yaldi ha tuesh harach,
Alti ra veh al tifchad,"
Turning a corner she unveiled the cloth slightly to see the face of a tiny infant. The woman grabbed a plain servant's cloth and wrapped it around him. Above she could hear the footsteps of enemy soldiers and the desperate cries of falling friends.
"My son, I have nothing I can give
But this chance that you may live,
I pray we'll meet again
If he will
Deliver us!"
Slaves and Monsters: "Deliver us!
Hear our prayer
Deliver us,
From despair
These years of slavery grow too cruel to stand,"
The woman ran desperately down the corridors with only a thin wall of brick between her and the killings outside.
"Come on men! We can't let these traitors into the palace!" A voice sounding like a general shouted. The woman stopped to look through a crackling hole. On the other side a tall blond haired man with two scars on his cheeks was slashing his sword at the enemy. For only a brief moment the woman relaxed and caught her breath. But it was short lived when the invading sounds grew louder above her. Once again she ran out to a hidden garden where a rouge man was waiting on a boat leading toward the river.
"Deliver us,
there's a life you promised us,
Deliver us
Out of bondage and,
Deliver us to the promised life,"
The woman watched on with tears streaming from her eyes as the rouge disappeared into the reeds with her child.
Woman: "River, Oh river, flow gemtly for me,
Such precous cargo you bare,
Do you know somewhere where he can be free?
River, deliver him there"
Slaves and Monsters: "Deliver us,
Send a shaper to shepard us,
and deliver us to the promised life,
deliver us, to the promised life,"
Woman: "Deliver us."
Slowly he open his eyes to see Tea holding him on her lap.
Tea: "Are you ok Yug?"
Yugi coughed and paused so his eyes would adjust to the light, "(cough cough) Yeah….yeah I think so. What about you? And the others?"
"We're all fine."
"Yugi!" Yugi heard his brother's voice call and he suddenly felt two sets of arms wrapped around him.
The Dark Magician watched from afar relieved that the young boy was safe without any serious damage.
Yugi: "I had the strangest dream."
Tea: "Really? What about?"
Yugi: "The rebellion. I saw monsters from the shadow games and fighting going on all around, and…and I think I saw my mother."
Joey: "Your mother?"
Imhotep froze in his place he starred at the boy suspiciously.
Yugi: "Yes. She was so beautiful. I'm guessing she was a servant. And I think I also saw my father."
The mage's shock turned to fear.
Tristan: "Really?"
Bakura: "Two parents in one dream? Amazing."
Yugi stood up groggily "I didn't see his face clearly but he was fighting Dartz's forces while mother was running from the destruction."
Unseen to the others Imhopet sighed with relief and walked back to the others.
Yugi looked over his shoulder to see the entryway of a dark and dreary town road, "What is this place?"
Dark Magician: "Remember I said there was only one place in which we might find the Hawk's Eye?"
Tristan: "Yeah..."
Dark Magician: "Well, here it is."
Tea: "But I thought we weren't going there."
"Due to the circumstances we might as well. But I advise you to stay together but not too close. In a place like this large numbers are a liability." He then placed his hand on each of the human's foreheads starting with Yugi.
The boy felt the drifter's hand carefully slid upon his scalp under his hood and mass of hair. A chilling yet comforting sensation flowed through his body. He closed his eyes to take in the feel of the mysterious mage's magic flow through him. The cool tingling soon stopped and he slowly opened his eyes again. By then everyone else had gone through the same ordeal and the Dark Magician was standing before them again.
"If you are addressed by a monster you are the Flame Swordsman, Cyber Commander, Magician of Faith, The White Wizard, and the Mighty Mage."
"Whoa!" Joey exclaimed gazing at himself and the others.
Yugi looked around to find that their appearance had altered dramatically. The looked older, stronger and almost unrecognizable.
Dark Magician: "Your identities are your most prized possession. This spell will conceal your faces if for some reason the cloaks do no good. Remain silent. Don't talk with anyone. And do not touch anything."
"Just what kind of place is this anyway?"
Where did they end up anyway? Read and Review
(A speical Dedecation to