Notes from the author:
If it makes you, all happy I started on this the moment I uploaded the last chapter. If anyone notices, any grammar mistakes let me know because I am very bad at catching them. Spelling I am good at along with vocabulary but grammar … no way. This chapter is where things take a bit of a turn. Sort of, though I am absolutely going to love the next chapter. It has my own little twist and one that I have been planning for quite some time. If you see any errors let me know.
I read something recently and had to put this. This will NOT be Yaoi. The sequel on the other hand might be. I am not sure yet but there is a very good possibility that it will be Yaoi. You do not have to read it because this can stand on its own and continue in the direction that the canon took. However, if you are up to reading Yaoi or like it then, by all means, stick around and hound on me to update.
Mind link talk
/Yugi to Yami/
/Yami to Yugi/
Riders to Dragons
Dragons to Riders
People thinking to themselves: 'la la la'
The Final Rider
Chapter 2
The first thing Yugi became aware of when he came to was that he was lying on something soft and there was a soft warm bit of light shining on him. Opening his eyes and sitting up he realized he was in the clearing of a forest …, that the Millennium Puzzle was now the size of a quarter down along with the chain it was on, and he was no longer wearing his school uniform.
He now wore plain black leather boots, loose black pants, a white shirt and a black sleeveless vest and two swords all topped by a long, black traveling cloak. One was a katana strapped to his belt on his left side and a scimitar strapped on his back with the hilt at his left shoulder and the end of the sheath at the right side of his hip and had a rucksack on over the sheath of the scimitar all of which lay under the cloak. The cloak did not impede the hilt of the scimitar however. \I guess it would be to much to hope for that you know where we are now Yami, because apparently we need swords. \ Yugi asked Yami through the mind link.
That man was a sore loser to send us here. Let us hope that we do not have to use those swords. / Yami replied as he came out of the shrunken Millennium Puzzle in spirit form to observe the surroundings.
\I am glad that what we fell through provided us with supplies. \ Yugi said as he took off the rucksack and opened it to dig through it. In it he found a great deal of jerky and some apples, a pouch of money with an explanation of the currency, a spare set of clothes like the set he wore now along with a couple of black traveling cloaks, and a few daggers.
However, the pack seemed to have more room than what there really was and was rather light considering the amount of things in it. Yugi took one of the daggers and put it in his right boot while he tucked another into his vest and drew the swords he now possessed to examine them.
Even though the sheaths were rather plain, the swords were works of art. The light glimmered off the seemingly yin-yang swords. Where as the scimitar's shard edge was a vibrant yet dark purple with the dull edge being a white that shifted in the colors of the Aurora Borealis the katana was the exact opposite with the colors reversed when it came to the sharp and dull edges of the blades.
The hilts were the same way. The scimitar's hilt was bold and stood out with a smooth triple twist silver spiral that wrapped around a solid piece of black spinel. The cross guard was two smooth double twist silver spiral that twisted around solid pieces of black spinel on either side of the hilt and on the ends of the hilt and cross guard were round stones of umbra sapphires.
The hilt of the katana on the other hand was quiet and subtle with a whole, smooth, uninterrupted silver ring that had a design made of thin metal wires. The wire weaved around diamond shards and color-changing sapphire fragments in the shape of oriental clouds and the wind inside of the ring connecting it to the hilt.
\I cannot believe how light these swords are and how much work apparently went into them. \ Yugi remembered a fact from some of the history books he read and pulled out a couple of his hairs. He drew them one at a time across either blade and cut the hairs without pressing down. \Sharp too.\
/They look extremely well made with few or no flaws and it does not look like they will break easily. So less for us to worry about the-/ Yami was cut of by a loud bang and bright flash of light behind them.
Yami took control just as Yugi spun around to see what caused the disturbance. Yami drew the katana with his left hand so that the dull edge of the blade ran down along his arm to act as a guard and the scimitar with his right so he could attack. Yami saw a bit of smoke rising up from the grass at the edge of the clearing. Frowning slightly Yami slowly approached to see smooth oval stone in burnt patch of grass.
Yami poked with the end of the scimitar. /Well. It does not seem to be harmful. However, a magical aura seems to encompass the entire stone. / Yami concluded to Yugi.
\So … should we take it with us or leave it here? \ Yugi questioned.
Yami sheathed the swords and picks up the stone. The stone had the same colors as the swords they possessed. There were vibrant dark purple spots and white spider-webbing lines that shifted in the colors of the Aurora Borealis. /It matches our swords so I say we keep it. It might be something important because of the magical aura. / Yami replied calmly to Yugi. Yami put the stone into their rucksack.
\ Yugi asked motioning in the direction the smoke was coming from.
/Well it doesn't look to be a lot of smoke like with an out of control fire so if I had to guess I would say it was coming from a controlled fire which means people./ Yami said. /They might be able to tell us our location and how to get back home. /
Yugi nodded in agreement and vanished into the puzzle as Yami headed in the direction of the smoke. Yami walked through streams, climbed down a cliff face twice his height and maneuvered through the thicket of trees. Yami stopped every now and then to orient himself and adjust his course if need be.
The sun was beginning to set as they reached the outskirts of a large clearing at the bottom of a slight hill and saw the camp. Yami decided how they acted before revealing himself. Approaching silently, he hid behind some nearby boulders and shrubs. Yami while he could not hear what they were saying he saw mostly men and their clothes were a combination of ragged and extremely well made with random bits of fancy jewelry thrown in.
/Just our luck is not it, a camp of bandits. We could give them everything we have and they would never help us. / Yami said to Yugi as he inwardly sighed so he would give away where he was hiding.
\Which means we back away quietly and find some place to hide for the night. Until we know, what direction they are going in we will not be able to travel with fear of running into them. \ Yugi replied with a small frown.
Just as Yami was getting ready to get away and find a place to hide as Yugi had suggested, one of the bandits smacked a little girl, yelling at her as she pulled a large pot into view. Yami paused watching as she served the bandits before they grabbed her by the arm and threw her away. Judging by the look her face she did not expect food and was used to this kind treatment.
The bandits finished eating quickly and one bandit stalked up to her and grabbed her by the hair. He drug her to the outskirts of the camp, coming dangerously close to where Yami was hiding and tied her hands together with some rope before tying it to a larch branch she wouldn't be able to reach.
\No one should suffer treatment like that. \ Yugi directed at Yami as the little girl sat down as close to the tree and as far away from the bandits as she possibly could. /If we are careful, we can free her. /
/Where would she go? I doubt she could come with us, as we do not even know where we are going. / Yami replied though he felt the same as Yugi for the way the bandits for treating a child like that.
\Well we cannot leave her here. Who knows what might happen to her. \ Yugi replied.
/You have a point there. Alright we'll free her but we wait until they have gone to sleep before we even attempt to do so,/ Yami answered as he settled into a comfortable position that still allowed him to be able to react and move quickly. /Rest, Aibou, I will wake you when it is time to move. /
Yugi acquiesced and receded into his soul room. Yami began planning on where to walk to get to the girl, how to free the girl and get away from the camp without being detected.
A few hours later, after sunset, most of the camp was asleep. A few guards patrolled the edges of the camp looking for intruders. The girl had even managed to fall asleep though Yami could tell it was not restful or very comfortable for her. Yami shifted and slipped out of his hiding place staying low to the ground and nudged Yugi with his mind to wake him.
\ Yugi asked wanting to confirm.
/Time to move. Come out of the puzzle and alert me for when the guards look this way. / Yami said as he practically lay down on the ground to army crawl towards girl.
Yugi nodded and began to watch the guards as Yami crawled to the tree would be between him and the sight of the guards. Yami edged around the tree to where the girl would be able to see him. Yami hated to wake her as she look extremely tired but reached out and tapped her on the shoulder anyway.
She jumped awake and was about to yell when Yami quickly put his hand over her mouth. He gave her a pointed look and she nodded. Yami nodded once and then took his hand away and drew the dagger from his right boot. Yami motioned for her bonds. As she was about to move, Yugi warned though the mind link, \Yami. Guard at your ten o' clock. \
Yami turned towards his left and saw a guard. The girl saw the guard too and faked being asleep as Yami slid back behind the tree.
\The coast is clear but you might want to hurry up. \
/ Yami replied as he slipped back around after the guard cleared off. The girl showed Yami the rope around her hands and Yami cut the ties being careful not to cut her hands by accident. Once he had cut the bonds, she rubbed both of her chafed wrists. The girl looked at Yami and he motioned for her to follow him quickly.
Yami led her around the tree and behind the rocks and shrubs, he had hidden behind earlier and into the trees that stood further back. A rustling made them stop and look back towards the camp. Two horses and what looked like a mule quickly and quietly moved into the trees with them. The girl greeted them with a bright smile on her face as she began happily rubbing their noses.
He saw that the two horses still had their tack on and the mule was barely unpacked. Thinking quickly he tied the mule's lead with one of the lead of a dark horse that might have been black and then tied both of those to the saddle horn of a lighter colored horse with an obvious blaze on the forehead and nose and stockings. Yami motioned the little girl over he helped her to mount the light colored horse and then got on behind her. He grabbed the reins and nudged it into a walk heading deeper into the forest in the direction he had first come from.
He moved quicker that he did on foot but it was still slow going to make sure the horses did not get hurt. The girl fell asleep but never stayed asleep for long as the ride was a bit bumpy and there were occasionally sudden stops. The sun was beginning to rise when he saw the cliff face he had climbed down earlier.
Yami dismounted and turned slightly to hear behind him. He just barely picked up an echo of what might have been a yell. He looked at the horse carrying him and the girl and knew it would not be able to travel for too much longer and the other horse and mule were not doing much better.
As he was about to remount to find a way around the cliff, he caught sight of an opening in the cliff face. It was wide enough that the horses and mule could get through but it was not so large that it was obvious it was there. If it had not had been for the way the light was shining he would not have seen it at all. Yami led the horses and mule over to the opening and looked in.
The opening widened into a large cave further in, but there was not enough room to hide all of the steeds. As he was about to leave he just noticed a bit of a jump in the wall to the right of the opening. He let the horse's lead slip through his hand to grasp the very end of it and walked closer to investigate.
The jump in the wall turned out to be a tunnel. It was wide enough for the steeds to get through but one could barely see that it was there. Yami saw a rock sticking out from the wall and hooked the horse's lead on it before moving into the tunnel. There was a right turn at the end of the tunnel and it kept the light he could see at the end of the curve from illuminating the rest of the tunnel.
He moved into the light and the sight shocked him. On his left there, an obvious down tilt that led to a large hot spring that kept the cave room at a nice temperature. Above and slightly towards the right of the hot spring, there was a tree with exposed roots and it let in the light from the sunrise, which bounced of numerous crystal outcroppings that were around the edge of the room and hung from the high ceiling of the cave. In the middle of the cave, there was plenty of grass for the horses and mule and on his far right on a higher level than the grass was a large patch of moss on which he and the girl could sleep.
He went back outside to wake the girl so he could get the steeds in so they could rest. The girl woke easily and slid from saddle to land gently on her feet. He untied the leads of the others from the saddle horn of the horse that carried them so far and led them through the opening in the face of the cave and through the tunnel into the large sunlight cave room.
Yami took off his traveling cloak and set it down at the mossy area with his swords and rucksack. He went over to the horses, took off their gear, and unpacked the mule. In the mules packs he found three blankets with ties and a set of brushes for grooming horses. Yami quickly tended to the horses and mules and covered them with the blankets he had found in the mules packs.
He turned to head over to the mossy area and stopped smiling at the scene. The girl had been so tired she just curled up on the moss and fell into a, finally, restful sleep. Shaking his head, he took his cloak and laid it over her feet and legs to keep her from getting to cold before he grabbed another cloak from his bag to cover up himself.
He found a comfortable spot facing the entrance to the cave. He set his swords close by in he needed to grab them in a hurry, pulling the daggers out of his tunic and boot so he would not stab himself if he shifted. He laid them near the swords and set his bag a bit of ways behind him. Feeling safe enough he let himself fall into a light doze so he would be able to think clearly about what to do next.
ANs: Sorry it took so long getting this up. My mom kept me busy since I uploaded the last chapter and then school started. I have had to put away many work hours to make sure I am passing all the classes I need to.