"A beautiful escape, if I do say so for myself." The thief looked over his shoulder to see the poor boy doubled over and panting. For a moment, they both made eye contact and laughed after an awkward second. Ryou was in no hurry to get into trouble, but somehow he felt safe around this guy. "Not in shape either, huh? Are you prepared to keep goin'?"

Safe and slightly offended.

"No," he coughed and shook his head. Oh how he hoped that his convulsing body movement spoke louder than he could ever attempt while his lungs were on fire. The Thief King shifted and stole his gaze to the stars, "That's too bad, but I don't have the time to stop and nurse you back to health." He winked at the boy but saw his head hung low, still panting. Shrugging it off, he pointed to the corner of the wall and grabbed Ryou's shoulder, pulling him towards it. "Here; rest here. Quiet your breath and wait for my return." With his shut tight in hopes to aid his stealth, Ryou slid down against the wall in his little nook and silently nodded. By the time he opened his eyes to thank him, the thief was gone. Ryou looked nervously around; listening to the guards and all of their taunts to provoke the intruders to reveal themselves. Ryou sighed - probably relief - and leaned his head against the wall. I wonder.. how everyone else is doing...

He awoke from a fit of a nightmare. His legs were terribly numbs and stung abnormally painfully when he tried to unfurl them. The young boy paused, waiting for a sound - any sound.

None came.

He was alone, truly. Not even the guards tried to strike up a conversation among them. Surprisingly, he was still here; still not found. Was anyone even looking for him? Was his companion captured? And what of Diabound?

As he was prepared to stand and investigate, a large BOOM crash landed in his ears. The sudden pulse of waves dared to shake him off the ground to meet gravity face on - but Ryou caught his balance before he even realized what was happening.

"Woohoo!"

A cocky and arrogant victory cry all-too-familiar for anyways pleasing except for Ryou. The thief was frolicking on the pillar tops, attracting a lot of attention from all the wrong persons. "Bakura!" someone shouted. Ryou was too hopeful for his own good. The thief ran up to him and jumped from his perch, landing in front of the semi-startled boy. "We must hurry, little one!" With that, Ryou and the thief dashed away from the scene of the crime.

"Oh thank goodness, you're alright! I'm so glad your- ACK! What's that?"

"Oh this?" Bakura motioned to his bloodied hand.

Ryou was horrified as he ran, his eyes darting back and forth between themselves to aid his understanding. "You. Why? What the.. Oh my! Oh my! Ohmyohmyohmyohmy! Oh my goodness."

"Breathe, man!" He noticed that his young follower was becoming slower and slower with each moment of thought and recognition of possible murder. "I just.. roughed him up a bit."

Ryou shuddered between every other 'oh my' and was beginning to tug and pull on his face.

He could not stand it any longer - at this rate, they could caught. The thief brashly grabbed Ryou's wrist and ignored the reacted "Ouch - HEY!"

"Get ready."

"For what?"

He tugged on the boy's wrist and he leapt down from a ledge - all preplanned by remembering where the guards parked their horses on the lower level of the palace. Ryou, already too late to refuse, stumbled a bit on his jump. In midair, Bakura grabbed the boy in one arm and used the other to swat at the saddled guard - a near perfect landing by his standards.

As the Pharaoh's guards rushed to regain formation from their scattered ambush, the Pharaoh himself turned his attention to the pursued. He watched as several of his men perished within a certain radius of the flight of a thief and his boy. A quick squint to better understand his vision of the boy leads to more confusion. "...Ryou?"

With the invisible Diabound working hard to protect the joined souls of fate, Ryou admired the beast respectively as his guardian within the sheltered arms of his companion. If the ride wasn't in haste or carried through sharp turns and dodges, he could be quite comfortable like this! "Heh heh," the thief looked back at Diabound devouring the helpless guards in their horrified frantic, "looks like we made it. And you're still with me, no less." He grinned at the boy in his arm as he pushed the steed to run faster. Ryou quickly averted his gaze, rather embarrassed to even think that the thief meant it in the way he wanted to hear it. Still, the rough breeze against his face felt refreshing - as if a newfound freedom was slapping him in the face; 'this is where you belong' the wind called to him in the cold night.

"I won't let you escape, Bakura!"

The words stung him like the harsh rays of the sun. A dread washed over the boy as both he and Bakura looked behind to hear the calling that they already knew was the Pharaoh. Bakura grinned wickedly and Ryou's stomach turned. "The Pharaoh!" He whispered behind clenched teeth.

Before they knew it, a god was upon them. Ryou looked in terror over Bakura's shoulder, eyes widening with every passing second as the holy god Osiris flew after them. Hologram? No. This was very real.

"Shit."