Author's note: Thank you for reviewing, Mitsuko-chan and Chace! Mitsuko-chan, I'm glad you liked the chapter. ^___^ Chace, I'm glad you liked it too. I hope you like this chapter too!
Chapter 2--Strangers
The sun rose to an ordinary spring day. The people of this city are waking up, going about their business, doing all the things they normally do--nothing unusual here. Or so it might seem to the casual observer....
One person in this city is already awake.
Late last night, something woke him up....but what was it? That is what he is trying to figure out, he and his Guardian partner. They both felt an intrusion into their World, but they don't know that this is what that feeling was. They have only recently discovered that they are Guardians, and many of their abilities are still unfamiliar to them. This is the way of the Guardians; they develop their abilities gradually, as they become more experienced. Ordinarily, the learning process goes perfectly fine. This child, however, is anything but ordinary.
This is Yugi Mutou, and he is hunted by the master of a terrible army--the Overlord.
Next to Yugi is his Guardian partner, Yami. The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle is less worried than his corporal counterpart; he assumes that if no one is running through the streets screaming, nothing too dire can have happened. They are both uneasy, however. It is wise to be so when an army of Chaotic creatures wants to capture you alive at any cost.
"Whatever it was, it doesn't seem like anything went wrong. It's probably nothing."
"How would you know?"
"What is it you think happened?"
"I'm not sure, but it felt like....like someone came."
"Came from where? And why?"
"That's just it--I don't know."
"If someone dangerous is here, we'll know soon enough--crazy psychopaths usually have a thing for terrorizing the masses."
"Is that supposed to be reassuring?"
"Why would it be?"
"Never mind..."
Neither of them can pinpoint what exactly happened, so they have no choice but to ignore it, for now. It probably is nothing; after all, what could have gone wrong?
They don't know just how wrong--or right--they are.
She is not especially dangerous, at least not to them, but she brings danger with her. She does not intend to; escapists rarely leave without a fight. They don't know that she has come, or where she is, but if she is found, their whole World could be in danger.
*****
She sat up slowly, yawning. She had only meant to rest for a moment, but perhaps it was better this way--the sleep had restored her strength, and she was ready to explore the World she had taken refuge in, albeit with no other options; there had been little time to choose.
Wonder why they had Gate coordinates for this World...it doesn't look too special.
There was no time to waste wondering. She had to find out more about this World, and find some way to blend in. As it was, she would stick out like a sore thumb. She had no way of knowing what was considered a normal appearance in this World, but for now...the long, black cloak she had stolen would suffice to hide her identity. Ripping off fabric from the hem until the length was right, she formed the torn-off material into a veil to cover her face, also wrapping her feet to prevent tell-tale footprints. Now she was ready to face the World, whatever it might hold. But where to go?
Hmm...gotta go somewhere with a lot of people...learn more about them...how to blend in....somewhere with information...
She began walking down the street she had Gated in beside. It had to lead somewhere, and hopefully that somewhere would be what she was looking for.
*****
Remind me again why we're going here.
"Because I need books from the library for school."
The stuff you do for school is really stupid.
"Someday when you rule the World, you can change it."
Me ruling the World...where'd you get a crazy idea like that?
"I was being sarcastic."
You? Being sarcastic? It must be the apocalypse.
"Shh--you have to be quiet in the library."
Why? No one but you can hear me.
"It's the principle of it."
Fine...
*****
She looked at the building. It was large to her eyes, the eyes of one who has spent all of their life indoors in the same place. People were going in and out, some holding what looked like stacks of paper attached on one side...she couldn't understand the concept of it at all. She stood looking at the doors for a long time, examining their wooden construction (and marveling that the doors were not steel), and looking with interest at the two strange stone creatures on either side of the door. They had large, slightly pointed faces with a great deal of hair all around, and their hands and feet were the same rounded-looking pads...all in all, bizarre things. She had no idea that they were lions, having never seen one in her life; she had never even seen a housecat. Finally, she went inside the building.
It was amazing!
She had never seen anything like it before--the paper stacks were on shelves, going right up to the ceiling, and people were taking them off and looking at them, reading them, occasionally bringing them to a large table-like area at the entrance of the building and handing them to a lady to be stamped and handed back, after which the paper-takers were apparently allowed to leave. She thought this, at least, made some sense; no one would allow valuable documents to be removed without some verification of identity. She walked along through the different rooms of the building, not daring to touch the shelved paper stacks lest someone demand to know who she was.
She had no idea that she was inside a library, or that the things on the shelves were books and anyone could take one with only a library card. She would have thought it impossible for someone to obtain a "library card" (the closest thing she knew was an access card) for free, and not be at least fingerprinted. This whole World was strange to her, and she continued on through the building, staring at the things around her and attracting many stares herself. It was so incredible...so impossible.
Distracted as she was, she had the bad luck to run into someone who was paying as little attention to their surroundings as she was.
"Ow! Watch where you're going!"
"Oh....sorry...."
She was the one who ran into you, why are you apologizing?
"Because it's polite--and what makes you think they were a she?"
Maybe her voice?
"Oh right..."
Hey--where'd she go?
Yugi looked around, but there was no sign of the mysterious, cloaked stranger who had run into him. Who had she been, and why had she been so oddly dressed? Yugi couldn't put his finger on it, but there had been something unsettling about her, whoever she was. Where had she come from? It might have seemed trivial to someone else, but not to a Guardian.
"...who do you think she was?"
How should I know? You have enough problems without worrying about some weirdo who wanders around in libraries.
"Well....I guess so...."
And you might want to stop talking...people will think you're crazy again. Anyway, I thought you said you're supposed to be quiet in libraries.
"Oh yeah...sorry..."
She watched the strange boy from behind a large bookshelf. The people of this World were certainly odd...and that one kept talking to himself. She didn't really see anything strange about it--she just assumed he was talking to someone invisible, so she quickly left the building. This place was too bizarre for her.
*****
Later, hidden in the bushes beside the road she had Gated in next to, she lit a small, smokeless fire. A lifetime of labor made her easily able to survive in this new place. She ate nothing that night; she was used to hunger. This World was strange, but she would find a way to live. She had to.