Die: Hello again and welcome to another chapter of Leopard Lost! *smiles happily as sparkles surround her*

Bakura: *starts choking on a sparkle and has to be saved by Melvin*

Melvin: OHMYRA, THE SPARKLES ARE GONNA KILL US! *runs off and drags Bakura with him*

Die: *calls after them* HA! THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR INSULTING ME! Now boys, if you would?

Ryou: This plotline was based loosely around the anime Spice and Wolf. However, only a few ideas were borrowed and the story is in no way following any of the plotline of Spice and Wolf, nor will there be any characters other than OCs and Yu-gi-oh ones.

Marik: Black Die does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! She does, however, own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds Stardust Accelerator: World Championship 2009 and an awesome dragon deck on there. *mutters* though she can't seem to beat anyone on it without cheating...

Die: HEY!

Chapter Two: What's in a Name?

xx~~South~~xx

Marik opened his eyes to growling, seeing the strange sight of a slightly-clubbed golden cat tail flickering across his vision. Remembering the cat creature from the night before, he gulped and slowly raised his face to see the naked back of a handsome male that looked so much like him only with his hair spiked up around a pair of golden cat ears and a more muscle-bound body that was covered in drying blood. "You're awake," the neko noted, his tail swishing as he began to turn, stopping only at Marik's protesting squeak. "That's good. I won't have to carry you around looking for some clothes."

"Who- Who are you?" he stuttered, feeling that the more appropriate question, what are you, wouldn't be met well by the strange male.

"I am the great golden leopard of the south, protector of those who cannot defend themselves and embodiment of all that perseveres. I have had many names over the years, not the least of which being simply 'God'. However," he continued, his eyes softening, the color a lovely dark lavender, "you may call me Melvin." He absently raised his hand up to his mouth, his tongue sneaking out as if to lap up the liquid coating his palm before he came to his senses and grimaced as he let his hand drop once more. "Now, little one, might we find those clothes now?"

Marik jumped at the sound of his father's whip slapping the stone floor like it would when he was angry, and he couldn't contain his fearful trembling between the horror of his wounds and the fact that Odion couldn't be too far behind. "Marik!" he called, "Where the hell are you, you little piece of shit!"

"It's all right, Marik was it?" the neko ventured, cocking his head to the side a little. "I have—will—take care of everything." He turned to stride forward, only to meet a slight resisting tug on his wrist from a handful of slender fingers. "Don't worry," he threw over his shoulder, "I'll be fine so long as you keep hold of the Sennen Rod in your fingers."

"Huh?" Marik spluttered intelligently, but Melvin had already taken advantage of his confusion to start forward, snarling softly with tail slashing through the air. "Wait!" he cried, reaching out, but that slender tail was whisked too quickly out of his reach and then he couldn't contain a gasp because when the whip came down, Melvin easily caught it in his hands, smiling dangerously.

"I will give you one chance to walk away because you are the sire of my little one," he growled from deep within his chest, yanking pointedly on the leather in his hand to jerk its handle from the dirty man that stood at the far end of the tunnel, back where the light was. "Otherwise, I shall rip you apart the same way I did those foul knaves from earlier." Another snarl ripped from his chest as his ears flattened, almost becoming hidden in his hair with his anger. "I will not allow you to hurt my little one again!" The man stumbled back in fright, the tone in Melvin's voice, after all, was more than a little frightening, before he turned tail and ran. Marik raised his eyes up to Melvin's face to see a disdainful frown. "Fucking coward." Once again, he turned his face towards the younger, his face relaxing slightly. "Come on, Marik, let's go find those clothes."

The Egyptian bit his lip, not wanting to show off his own nakedness, but the neko snorted, having grown impatient, and then picked up the human bridal-style, gaining himself a yelp in the process. "H-hey! Put me down!" he protested.

He only earned himself a light chuckle and a tightening of the arms around him. "Calm down, little one. You're safe in my arms, I promise. So long as you hold that Millennium Rod, I won't leave you."

"Huh?" he spluttered, then he felt something cold and metallic collide against his bare chest. Confused, he looked down to see a golden scepter-like object with an eye on it and his lavender eyes widened. "What the hell is this doing here?" he yelped, squirming so fiercely Melvin had to stop walking to make sure he didn't drop the smaller boy. "It's supposed to be in the vaults down in the crypt, waiting for its proper wielder!"

Melvin rolled his eyes. "If it makes you feel any better, I was the one who made the Millennium Rod, so I say that you're the proper wielder." Marik stilled in his arms, so he started walking again. "Are you going to give me any more trouble, or are you going to behave until I can get us to a market and get us some proper clothes?"

"I'll behave," he whispered, a little frightened of Melvin now. If legends were correct, a very dangerous leopard creature had been the one to make the Millennium Rod they had made, one that had no problem with murdering people in cold blood and licking the blood from its claws. Regardless of whether the rumors were true or not, he had no intention of getting on the wrong side of the creature who had killed almost his entire family.

xx~~West~~xx

Duke managed to figure out which of the cells held the creature he'd seen earlier, but to his surprise, when he peeked in, a pair of emerald eyes glared up at him and a low growl escaped from the shadows, forming the words, "I suppose you too are here to throw shit in my face." He shook his head adamantly, fixing his jade eyes on the gleaming from the darkness, noticing how the height shrunk slightly. "If you do not intend to take advantage of my state, then what is it that you are doing here?"

"I'm going to free you."

The emeralds tilted, no doubt in response to the entire head moving to the side in confusion. "No doubt that you have confirmed my position as an unholy creature simply by conversing with me, so why would you bother to attempt to release a demon such as myself?"

"Because no one deserves to be imprisoned like this simply for existing."

The emeralds grew impossibly wide, then sharp, cold laughter rang through the tiny cell, echoing loudly over the stone walls. The motions of that outburst pushed a few limbs into the light, revealing human skin pale as the moon before they were pulled back into the refuge provided by shadow. "You know nothing of me, human," the feline stated, amusement in the tone of voice even if there was a calmer aura about the prison. "For all you are aware, I have slaughtered millions of small children, women, and elderly only to guzzle their lovely crimson lifeblood down my throat to slake a thirst present only for a passing whim of mine."

"Stop it!" he cried, his hands covering his ears now to stop that voice from continuing and his eyes screwed tightly shut so that he didn't have to see the frightful gleam in those eyes that were so much like his own. "You couldn't have done something like that because then you would've been killed a long time ago!"

After a long moment without an attempt to further the argument, he opened his eyes to see the strange sight of a small naked neko-girl with impossibly pale skin and hair as dark as his own, if not more so, standing on the crappy cot that was on the floor beneath the bars in the ground, putting her face inches from the metal blocking her escape. "You are a strange human," she stated, cocking her head to the side again and this time letting them see the few strands of long hair that fell across her face. "All I had known before would have simply left me for dead and moved on, even if they had happened to see me in my better form in a position like I was when I chanced upon you in the streets. In my experience, humans are cruel creatures, worse than the animals they accuse us of being." A pair of ears he hadn't noticed before since they blended in perfectly with her hair twitched on her head even as a similarly-colored tail swished behind her as if to brush aside the matter. "However, I shall place my trust in you for the time being in the hopes that you shall do me a favor and enable me to escape."

"What do you need me to do?" he asked, curious, then frowned in thought. "Wait, you already had a plan!"

She shook her head. "No. I just know what I have to do in order to escape myself. Once I have my Item back, I will be able to manage this on my own."

"Wouldn't you like to have some help getting back to wherever you're going?" he asked, shocked she would think to do something like this on her own, momentarily forgetting that she was also that ferocious creature he'd seen bound in chains earlier.

She stared at him for a long moment, absently petting her tail with her right hand as she held it still with her left. "I have my pride to think about, Human," she snorted, eyes burning with a fierce light. "I am Zelophehad, the first of three great leopards, creator of the Millennium Anklet, the most compassionate of any, and the shadow born of terror! I do not need the assistance of a scrawny mortal such as you to free myself once I have recovered my treasure!"

He sighed deeply, understanding that he would make no headway with her tonight. "So what exactly is your treasure?"

Her hand paused from where it was stroking her tail. "The Millennium Anklet. I simply cannot leave without it."

"And where might it be, Z?"

"It is on the wrist of that filthy head priest," she replied, her eyes narrowing. "And if you attempt to call me by some ridiculous pet name again, whether it is a shortening of my name or not, I shall claw your head from your shoulders the instant I escape from this hellhole! I am a fine specimen of manhood and do not appreciate such demeaning gestures from the likes of you!" Somewhat sheepish that what he had thought was a girl all this time actually turned out to be a male, he backed away slowly. "Just where do you think you are going? Get your ass back here this instant before I- I-" A loud growl followed his words as he strained to come up with a proper punishment he could carry out from inside the prison.

"Relax, Z, I'm just going to go scope out the territory, okay? Duke Devlin never would disappoint something as interesting as you are without a fight."

As he walked away, he couldn't help smirking at the loud cry of "DUKE!" from the cellblock he was leaving. Somehow, Zelophehad had proved himself to be even more interesting than he was before, and Duke would be damned if he let the creature escape him so easily. Boredom was an enemy he was not yet willing to surrender to.

xx~~North~~xx

Ryou woke up to the thud of raw meat before his face, squeaking as he backpedaled, his gaze traveling up to the face of a male with messy white hair and mahogany eyes who threw himself down beside his prize, his fingers running through his hair and seemingly uncaring about the fact that there was nothing covering him in the least. "You're awake," he stated, a white tail curled around his waist and only standing out because of the red tangled in the fur from where the tip of it had dragged through the meat. "I was beginning to think you were going to freeze to death last night."

"Huh?" the younger said, confusion in his doe eyes.

The neko rolled his own eyes, viciously tearing into the meat he had pulled from the carcass of what Ryou believed to be some sort of goat. "I accidentally hit you with a rock last night, and you wouldn't wake up."

"Oh no!" he wailed, his hands flying to his hair and instantly finding stickiness in it. "I missed the chance to see that white leopard again!" His hands pulled back and he grimaced at the dried brown crap under his nails. "Ew! And there's dried blood in my hair too!"

"Calm down fluffy," the neko advised, lazily licking the blood from his tail. "It can't be that hard to get out, now can it?"

"Yes it can!" he wailed. "And I'm not fluffy, dammit!"

Suddenly, warm arms were holding him still and there was a warm, wet sensation dragging across his scalp. "You feel fluffy enough to me," a voice whispered into his ear, breath huffing heatedly across the shell of his ear.

After a momentary struggle against his captor, he sighed and let himself go limp, giving up and crossing his arms over his chest in a pout. "My name is Ryou, not fluffy."

A rumble from behind him startled him slightly, though he couldn't tell if it was a chuckle or a growl. "And I'm Bakura, creampuff." The dragging sensation didn't let up, but to be honest, Ryou had sort-of resigned himself to the rather feline-like grooming of Bakura. Besides, with his ankle the way it was, it was hardly as if he could escape anyway. "So what're you doing out here all on your lonesome, cremepuff, and where's the Millennium Ring?"

Ryou frowned. "The Millennium Ring? Do you mean that necklace with the pyramid and the eye in the center of it?"

"That's the one," Bakura confirmed lazily, continuing his attentions on the smaller. "Where'd it go? I wouldn't have come here if you hadn't been the closest person aware of its presence."

"It-it's mine," Ryou stammered, a little nervous about this stranger's interest in the gift his father had given him.

"Actually, fluffball, it's mine. I'm the one who enchanted its tines to point to its wielder's desires, after all."

"Then why is it back at my house?" he yelped in reply, causing the neko to pause in his actions.

"It was- er- I los-" he cut himself off, his body stiffening against Ryou's as he struggled for the right word. "It was misplaced. Now, accept my eternal gratitude for keeping it safe for me in the form of letting you live and tell me where the hell it is!"

"It's at my house back in the village," he replied shakily, a little scared by this new anger emanating from this strange creature. "I hid it in the house so that the others wouldn't find it when they took me. I couldn't bear if I lost it, it's all I have left of my baby sister!"

Bakura seemed satisfied by that, leaning back for a long moment as he closed his eyes, focusing for a long moment before his tail thrashed in anger. "Why the hell can't I summon it?" he growled, then turned his attention to Ryou, calming slightly as the solution came to him. "Of course, your location must not have been specific enough for me to summon the Ring back to me. No matter. You will simply have to lead me to it."

"O-of course," Ryou said. "But I can't move."

"And why the fuck not, fuzzfluff?" Bakura did not look pleased, but he seemed to be trying to keep from hurting little Ryou if only so that he didn't lose his guide.

"Because my ankle's broken, that's why!"

"Let me see." Bakura moved around Ryou, bending his head down to critically examine the leg in question. In this position, the smaller white-haired boy could clearly see the pair of cat ears that were otherwise hidden in that mess of hair twitch as his slender fingers slid over the injury, careful not to cause pain as he explored. "Well, it isn't broken, but you certainly can't walk on it." He shrugged, obviously not really disturbed by such a pronouncement. "No matter. I'll just have to carry you back then."

"What?" he yelped, panicking slightly as he was carelessly slung across the larger male's back, though his bad ankle was held in an iron grip that kept it from further harm, the older already loping towards the sheer cliff-face. "Bakura!"

xx~~East~~xx

"What are you looking at, Yugi?"

The small neko jumped, his lion ears jerking to attention on either side of his strange golden bangs before the background of his red-tipped black star-shaped hairdo as he whirled around to see the tall form of his mate. "Yami! You scared me!" he gasped, a hand on his chest as he gave a weak glare to his mirror image, except that some of the gold snaked upwards and the ears looked as if they never slumped down like Yugi's usually did.

"Sorry, aibou. I thought you knew I was there." He came closer, wrapping his arms around the smaller neko and smiling softly when Yugi's tail wrapped around his wrist. "So why were you gazing so intently at the mortal realms?"

A soft shrug of his clothed shoulders made Yami want to shiver slightly. "I was worried that they would kill their partners."

"They?"

"Bakura, Melvin, and Zelophehad. I didn't think Zelophehad would be able to seeing as he's currently in some kind of prison, but Melvin has always been fond of causing some chaos and Bakura's obsession with blood over his claws is a little distressing."

"I still don't know why you stopped me from simply executing them, koi. The three of them aren't right in the head. They haven't been ever since they came out from being captured by those hunters all those years ago. That battle with the Great Wolf simply brought it to our attention."

"We abandoned them, Yami, and they were abused as a result. Can you really blame them for being so cold and twisted? Would you do the same for me if I turned like they did?"

Yami sighed deeply. "No. No, I couldn't, aibou."

"Exactly," Yugi pointed out. "And besides, this is the best way to get them to heal, at the hands of their soulmates."

"It's hard to believe people like that even have soulmates," Yami muttered to himself, only to earn a smack across the shoulders from his mate. He smiled gently, not upset when he had clearly earned the gesture. "Coming to bed with me, aibou?"

"Of course, Yami. When haven't I?"

Die: *smiles* Like the puzzleshipping I included? It's not my FAVORITE pairing, puppyshipping and stepshipping are WAY better than this, even if they too aren't my favorites, but I can stomach it WAY more than I can anything with Anzu. *shudder*

Bakura: Why do we always have to do these review-encouragements?

Melvin: An excellent question and one I don't know the answer to.

Die: It's because your hikaris do the disclaimers. You're welcome to switch if you want.

Melvin: Nah, I'm good. This way we don't have to do the exit too.

Bakura: Review and I will give you a pointy knife... with blood on it...

Die: *sigh* I just hope he isn't trying to get rid of evidence again...

Ryou: Um... No?

Die: *warning tone* Ryou...

Marik: *interrupts* GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE!