AN: This was painful to write. Well... not so much painful as drawn out. Most of it was written just after the last chapter was out and the rest of it finished in the past two days. So just a small time difference then. Didn't help that Microsoft Word had a bit of a spaz and I had to retype all of what I lost, good job most of that was on paper ne? Well I hope this lives up to expectations.

Oh, by the way, I'm basing what the demons of this story should look like off of Slifertheskydragon's beautifully drawn Demon Atemu on Deviantart. Check it out those who haven't seen it (although I find it hard to believe that anyone in the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom might not have seen it) 'coz its very, very pretty.

Warnings: This gets graphically violent during the fight scene so any of you with squeamish stomachs will Not want to read it. But if you're like me then it wont faze you (I'm not morbid, really) Remember I told you.

Firefly In Ice

Chapter Three

"I always thought you were strange Yuugi but this takes the cake."

"I don't know Ryou, I kind of like it."

"And if you like it, Bakura, then my point has been successfully proven."

"Are you suggesting you don't like my sense of style?"

"Making necklaces of live animals does not count as 'style'."

"They had it coming."

"Can you two just drop it for a moment, I'm trying to think."

"Don't hurt your self."

"Well thanks for your concern… Are you sure he'll like it?"

"It's shiny, gold, pointy and big. What more could he want?"

"You know you're not very helpful."

"And, thus, my life's goal has been achieved."

"I thought you're life's goal was to eradicate all life on the planet."

"That too."

He had woken to the sound of screams.

He had opened his eyes to the sight of slime-drenched walls.

For a moment he had panicked. He had thought he was back in Hell again, he had nearly screamed and cried and begged for it to have not been a dream. But then he remembered, his Hell had been silent save for the dripping of water and it had been utterly dark, he hadn't even been able to see the walls. This couldn't be Hell.

Then where was he?

As he stared at the brick of the wall only inches in front of him he thought. He searched his mind and realised, he wasn't confused. His mind was, at least mostly, clear and coherent. He could really concentrate on something. And so he concentrated. First he began with who… no what he was (a surge of anger shot through him, the shadows had even robbed him of his sense of being). He was… he was…

"Beast! Let me go! You sinful, hateful beast!" The horse voice turned into another scream and something else gibbered an answer.

Sinful… Beast… You… Yug…

"Yuugi…" He whispered, "My name is Yuugi." He smiled. He remembered a name. His name. This was definitely a good start. It answered one of his most pressing questions. Now if only he knew who 'Yuugi' was supposed to be…

Sinful… Hateful…Beast… Foul… Wrath?

Why did that one sentence seem to open so much to him? Wrath… Wrath was a sin wasn't it? And a sin was supposed to be a bad thing right? And somehow he knew Wrath was connected to him so did that make him a bad thing? A beast. Hateful. Foul. A… demon? Was that the term? It sounded familiar. And… and a demon was a bad thing too wasn't it? At least it sounded like a bad thing. So that made him a bad person. A bad demon yes?

So why didn't that feel right.

Closing his eyes as his head began to pound he gave up his search for himself that was confusing him even as he found more and more answers. He was Yuugi and he was a demon, that would have to do for now. He needed to concentrate on his surroundings.

The stone in front of him was jagged and rough though clearly it had been carved out purposefully and not by nature. He shivered. He was cold… and wet. He didn't like being wet. It felt unnatural; it felt like the opposite of… of… what it should be? Did that make sense?

Yuugi hissed as his head pounded.

He gave up on that like he gave up on his identity. He was cold and wet, that he knew and that he would have to do something about it. Yuugi closed his eyes for a moment, mentally searching for any injuries or strains his body may have attained. He found many. His knees and palms were red raw and his feet were frozen from the snow (to his joy he realised he remembered the name of the white substance that had greeted him upon his emergence), the delicate membranes of his wings were in tatters and he sighed remembering just how long it took them to heal, his tail was stiff and overly heavy on the cold floor and his stomach ached from hunger, clearly the creatures he had eaten before had not been enough to replenish his body. Yuugi opened his eyes again and inspected his claws with an experts eye, they were blunter then he would have liked and his hands were caked with the black blooded remains of his capturers, he growled quietly, he hated being dirty. He would have to do something about that as well.

Now came an attempt to move. Rolling over onto his stomach he pushed his knees and palms under himself and heaved upwards until he could lift his knees and replace them with his feet. He stayed still for a moment before lifting his head to see the back of his prison and snorted proudly, his tail tip swaying to and fro in accomplishment, he was standing without aid. True he was on all fours but he felt strangely more comfortable this way, his wings settled on his back with greater neatness.

Now in a more mobile state Yuugi stalked over to the bars of his prison, three walls consisted of solid rock so he had no chance of escape that way his only way of escape would be to see if there was a way out of this… cave was it? Or tunnel? Reaching the cold metal rods Yuugi stared at the sight that met him, across the corridor, perfectly opposite to his own was another prison cell. And it was occupied. The occupant was sat curled on the floor in a corner, closer inspection showed him that it had a chain around its ankle that connected to the wall behind it, it had long fair hair and great blue eyes that were currently staring at him as if he were the most terrifying thing here. Yuugi frowned, why would it be scared of him? It looked different from the creatures he had attacked, its skin was white instead of black and it was taller, slimmer. Surely a different species he surmised. Quite content with his current location Yuugi settled back on his hunches and curled his tail around his legs to conserve heat. Cocking his head to the side he growled, testing the creature's reaction. It gasped and curled into the wall further, muttering something under its breath. So it was scared of him, Yuugi thought, did this go back to the demons being bad thing? Probably.

Ignoring it for the moment Yuugi turned his head to see the corridor on either side and glimpsed rows of more prison cells set into the rock although the only ones he could partially see into were the ones diagonal to his, one to his right appeared empty but he could hear a faint shuffling that could be coming from either a rat or another captive, one to his left had an occupant very similar to the one in front of him but this one seemed even taller, it appeared unconscious sprawled out on the floor like that. Yuugi sniffed delicately and was hit with the sent of blood and fear. Fear from the one in front and blood from the unconscious one to his left. He frowned, worried, the injuries were clearly fresh and severe. He turned back to the creature opposite. It shifted and he saw its chest was larger then the other's, he frowned, the two were clearly the same species but he only vaguely remembered there could be differences. So if the one to his left was male that would make this one… female was it? That sounded right. Well surely she must be worried for her companion, Yuugi could hear his breath was becoming increasingly shallow.

He cleared his throat. "Do you know where I am?" his voice was hoarse and whispery but it sounded satisfactorily cordial.

She gaped at him, "You talk?!"

He was pleasantly surprised, the language hadn't changed since he was imprisoned and her voice was pleasant to listen to, "Of course. What did you expect me to do? Bark like some cute little animal."

She laughed weakly, "Not exactly."

Yuugi frowned as she looked away not even attempting to answer his question. He shuffled his front legs and winced as his palms scraped across the stone floor, perhaps she only needed a little persuasion, and the screaming had stopped a while ago so she had no excuse not to hear him. "Your friend looks unwell, I think he might be dying, why aren't you trying to do anything about it?"

Her head shot up then and Yuugi smiled, proud at having caught her attention so well, but she did not look so happy, "What? Who?"

"How should I know his name? He's right next to you, can't you smell him?"

She scowled, "No I cannot."

Yuugi blinked confused, "Why?"

"Because I'm not a beast, idiot!" she snapped. "Now tell me where he is!"

His tail twitched, offended, "I am not a beast I am a perfectly sentient being." He scowled over at the unconscious man, "And he is right next to you, on your right, my left."

"Demons are not sentient! They are half-intelligent savages and nothing more!"

He growled, ducking his head and raising his shoulders aggressively, "And what are you to be so high and mighty?"

She straightened her back and raised her head high, sticking her nose in the air with an almost unbearable pomposity, "I, demon, am an elf."

His eyes narrowed, "And…?"

She stared at him as if he were mad, "What do you mean 'and'? That's all anyone needs to know."

Yuugi raised his head a little, where elves that important? "So what exactly defines an elf? What are they?"

This time her eyes narrowed in a kind of suspicious confusion. She watched him for a long time then, finally, whispered, "Who are you?"

Yuugi snorted, he didn't like the direction of this conversation, turning away he padded over to the right side of his prison, he flopped down onto the floor, leaning back against the wall and laying much like a cat would in the sun.

"Well?" she said impatiently. He didn't look at her.

"I don't know!" he said forcefully, "I don't know where I am, what I'm doing, I barely know what I am. I would have thought our conversation would have revealed that to you!" He was angry with himself now, there had been no need to tell her anything but it had just slipped out, now she had an advantage over him.

She watched him with a kind of reluctant sympathy, clearly unsure whether to trust him or not, then finally said, "My name is Era. So called because I was born on the turn of the century."

Yuugi didn't feel like telling her his name so he stayed quiet.

She crawled forwards, "What does he look like, is his hair red? Is he wearing silver armour?"

He blinked, momentarily thrown by the change of topic then raised his head from his arms to look again, "More a kind of auburn brown, but he is wearing silver chain mail, what's left of it at least."

Era frowned in thought, "Then he came from the prince's regiment." She muttered.

Yuugi had little interest in princes and regiments so he settled back down and prepared to go to sleep again in an attempt to stop the pounding in his head. But Era spoke again, and this time with something that could help him. "You are in the Grey Mountain. We are prisoners."

He rolled his eyes, he could have told anyone that. "Prisoners of whom? Those little black clad creatures?"

"Yes. They are goblins." Well at least that told him something. Though it was a limited amount. "They brought you in a little after they left me here, we lost another battle and I thought you were a soldier until they took off the heavy chains binding you. I still don't understand how you could have been there though, that part of the forest is barren."

I could give you an explanation for that, Yuugi thought wryly.

"You are… hurt."

Yuugi blinked, now completely thrown off course, was she worried about him? "Nothing that can't be fixed with the right type of… medicine." He replied, reluctantly beginning to care about her opinion.

Era smiled, "I have some snow flowers left in my pouch, I could crush them if you want they make a powerful painkiller."

He stared at her, wasn't she hating him a moment ago?

There was no time to reply however; a crashing screech came echoing down the corridor signalling the opening of a door and the arrival of something rather unwanted. The stench made Yuugi's nose scrunch. Heavy footsteps reached his ears but he lay still, alert, relatively safe behind the bars.

One of those little black creatures, goblins, stepped into view, clanging at the bars of other cells and glaring as it passed. A guard? He watched it as it reached his cage. It harassed Era first, leering and gibbering at her like she was some entertaining animal. He made gestures that must have been rude or unpleasant because her intake of breath was angry and scandalised.

Yuugi snarled; insults were uncalled for.

The goblin jumped and turned at the sound. Then faced him with fear and disbelief in its tiny black eyes. He swayed his tail pointedly, flicking the arrow tip through the air, knowing from Era's reaction that he was feared on instinct by other creatures. Yuugi glared, he was still hungry after all.

There was a long moment of silence. Then the goblin started screeching in that horrible language, Yuugi's ears pressed themselves down on his skull to help block out the noise, it was loud enough to wake the dead! What was it doing! It was only a second later that it stopped and the sound of hundreds of footsteps rumbled the walls of the dungeon. What seemed like thousands of small black goblin faces appeared out of nowhere staring at him with a strange look in their eyes.

Yuugi growled again, lowering his body to look more threatening. He found he disliked being stared at; it made the hairs on the back of his neck rise and an uncomfortable nervousness rise in his abdomen. The general mass moved back but one at the front moved closer. This goblin was huge. There was an excess of leather hanging off his body and a disgusting mixture of feathers and obviously stolen gems entwined with dead vines around his head. Yuugi glared, a leader?

A small one stepped up to the taller's side and rasped, "It's awake."

The leader laughed, a bubbling chuckle resonated grotesquely form his mouth, "I can see that, idiot."

"Then should we test it? Is it ready?"

The leader's eyes gleamed greedily, "It's always ready, if you judge by what it did to our rear defence. Ready the coliseum!"

Ten minutes ago Yuugi couldn't have told anyone anything about a coliseum. Now he would give anything to not know.

The sheer size of it had stunned him into submission long enough for them to wrestle him into the holding cage where he was now stood. The cavern was huge, thousands of stone tiers disappearing into the gloom of above, each one infested by a goblin audience screaming, chattering and stamping for more entertainment. And on each tier where a thousand more individual torches burning in metal brackets. The flames mesmerised Yuugi, he felt the warmth he desperately desired radiating from them even at this distance. The way they flickered called to him like sweet birdsong; he was fascinated by how different they were to the lightless flames of his Hell.

He rattled the chains encasing him, irritated by the pain they were causing to his already tender wounds. He was ignoring the scene in front of him. Goblin soldiers purposefully hunting and torturing ill-prepared and injured elfin prisoners.

According to Era this is what they did with prisoners of war.

She was out there fighting for her life. And there was nothing he could do to help her. Not now. Not with the chains aggravating his anger and the smell of blood slowly turning his mind into a raving need.

There was something rising inside of him, some kind of terrible and uncontrollable hunger. A snake in his stomach that would strike with his body. He wanted to go out there and help the poor creatures being tortured and treated like hunted beasts but… he was ashamed…

…He wanted to join in.

Not the torture. Mindless, reasonless torture was not something he ever wanted to indulge in but… but the feel of their soft flesh beneath his fangs and claws… the taste of their rich flavoured blood rolling over his tongue… the sated pleasure of his body as he fuelled it with the life of others… the feel of death in his claws…

He shuddered, unconsciously straining against the chains. Something to his side gave out a strange gibbering laugh.

How long he was forced to watch this game he didn't know, all he did know was that he was both hoping for and fearing the moment they let him out of the cage. In an attempt to keep himself occupied and distracted from his hunger he watched the little flaming torches dotting the walls as spherical orange lights. He noticed, after a long while of staring at the nearest one, that, if he concentrated he could manipulate it just slightly. He tilted his head to the side, the flame, for an instant, jumped to the left before settling back down. Yuugi frowned at it, this surely had something to do with what he was, it just had to. He jerked his head to the other side, the flame jumped right. No this definitely wasn't just freak coincidental wind. This was him. So… something else he had discovered about himself: his name was Yuugi, he was a demon, and he could manipulate fire. Compiled together with what he had learned from Era he thought he was certainly starting to get somewhere.

Now if only he could survive long enough to make use of this knowledge.

A sudden lull in the noise brought his attention back to the fight. He blinked, breaking his intense attention away from the torch, and turned to face the door to his tiny holding cage. The two small goblins that had been flanking the lock were listening to another he recognised as the one who had spoken to the leader earlier. He noticed the sudden tension in the air, the anticipation of those sat in the stands. The fighting had slowed to only scuffling as the silent word spread across the cavern. It did not help his hunger any.

Finally his keepers turned towards the lock of his cage, the sound of the metal bars creaking open seemed to be the sign for everyone to turn and stare but the chains still encased him and he could not do anything. The two fought for a moment over who would enter, both were reluctant. Eventually the one with a thin scar deforming the left side of his face stepped in. Yuugi felt the snake in his body poise to strike, the smell of its closeness and the anger he felt at their teasing him before made him growl softly.

He knew then that the one who freed him would not live.

Hesitantly, with an agonising slowness, his legs were released from the first chain. He did not move or even attempt to struggle as the goblin came closer to break the lock on the second set, his torso was freed, then his tail. He swished his tail when he could in a manner that looked as if he approved and the goblin, strangely reassured that he was so calm looking, moved faster. He lifted the one looped around his neck and then the one cramping his wings but stalled at the final set around his wrists.

The tension in the stadium was more then he could bare but he looked at the goblin and made a falsely encouraging noise. It stank of fear.

The last of the cold metal fell from his skin. The goblin looked at him for a moment, confused as to his lack of movement. There was a collective intake of breath.

And the snake struck.

He didn't hear the sudden roaring approval from the stands; the sound of the creature's fading heartbeat filled his ears too completely. His body hummed in pleasure from the nourishment as his meal slipped down his throat. He felt the clumps of flesh coming apart under his claws, and loved it. Though a small part of his mind remained horrified.

When the corpse below him was little more then an unidentifiable mash of blood and bone and ripped clothing he looked up to see that the fight had resumed wholeheartedly. A figure ran by to his right, perused by another, and he had to dig his claws into the sandy floor to keep from chasing after them. He recognised it as a hunter's instinct and was shocked to realise that he was, in fact, a predator. He felt stupid now when he remembered his musings in the woods that his claws and tail were for defence.

He heard Era's scream from near by and that helped him focus, mentally pushing away the desire to kill. He turned and ran in the direction of her voice, his palms smarted as they hit the ground and for an instant he entertained the idea of moving up onto two legs, but dismissed it soon enough, he could not move anywhere near as fast on two then he could on four.

He skirted a wrestling pair and narrowed his eyes as the female elf came into sight, sat uncomfortably on the sand her ankle blooded and twisted, her weapon out of reach, a huge goblin leering over her with it's rusted sword held high. He sped up. The sword began its deadly decent. When he was within a few feet he coiled the muscles of his back legs like a spring and leapt, colliding full on with the goblin's body. Taken by surprise the creature fell hard onto its back, he landed on top, the claws on his hands and feet digging into its torso. For an instant Yuugi's mind was clouded impossibly by a red mist, the moment the goblin tilted his head back he lunged instinctively forward, sinking his fangs into the vulnerable flesh of its neck. It yelled in agony. He jerked his head upwards feeling the hot meat raw and tender rip under his teeth, tearing its throat out with a satisfying gurgling scream. He felt the wet meat slip down his throat, was struggling to regain control and not lunge forward again to rip more flesh off the dead body beneath him. A hunter deserved his spoils.

Again it was Era's voice that brought him back to reality, what she was saying he couldn't discern but it finally allowed him enough clarity to pull himself away from a should-have-been meal and walk up to her side. She thanked him then thanked him again as he passed her the gold hilted dagger she had dropped. But then she gasped in pain when she tried to stand, normally Yuugi would have forced her back down again but this was no place to be lying down, instead he moved under her left arm and helped to push her up onto her one good foot moving onto two legs himself in the process. She kept her arm around his small shoulders to keep her balance.

"What the hell do we do now then elf?" he asked cynically over the deafening sounds surrounding them. Shouting and screaming, the clashing of metal and the thuds and splatters of bodies and bodily fluids.

"We hold on, we survive and wait." She gasped breathlessly, her lilting voice laced with pain.

"Wait for what? The lot of them to drop dead?! We'd have more chance of this mountain caving in and crushing us!"

She looked at him with her large blue eyes and smiled weakly, "Don't worry, the prince is coming. The prince will save us."

He raised an eyebrow, was about to ask her what the fuck she meant but didn't get the chance when a pair of identical male goblins descended on them. He was forced to tug away from her grip in order to save himself and to get a better angle of attack. He dodged the swipe of the broadsword and spun, again on all fours, angling his tail so the arrow point swiped across his attackers neck, he missed by an inch and caught the collarbone instead. Again he felt his mind slipping away under the onslaught of smell and sound, adrenaline and hunger. He had to get away from Era before he lost it completely, he could feel it happening, the desire, the lust, the hot red mist fogging all sensibility. But at the same time he couldn't stray away. She was too vulnerable in her current state, she would be killed.

But he may end up killing her himself if this kept up and he lost it as completely as he had last time.

His claws filled up with the feel of living flesh, blood covered his skin, every sense he possessed heightened, sharpened as his body and mind focused on the one thing it truly desired. The hunger aching in his belly made it hard to fight against himself, made it so he began to run out of reasons why he couldn't just give in. None of these people had ever done anything for him. Even Era had been only vaguely helpful. But she was the first person he had ever met and had real contact with that he could remember, she wasn't much but when it came down to it she was all he had right now.

Very well, a snide part of his mind said, we just won't kill her.

He was finished with these two but adrenaline was still pounding within him, he wasn't ready to stop, wasn't able. A figure flashed past his vision, it wasn't Era and he found that was all that mattered as he leapt at it, not noticing if it was elfin or goblin, male or female.

The blood splattered against the sandy floor.

He couldn't hold back anymore.

Yuugi regained control again only when he found himself back in his prison cell. This time they hadn't removed the chains and so he knelt on the floor feeling as if the weight of the entire mountain rested upon his shoulders.

His body felt so much better now, with the life he had absorbed through their flesh it had managed to regenerate most of his tattered wing membrane. Strains and aches no longer hampered his movements and his belly rumbled comfortably full. But his content had come at a price that he wished others had not had to pay.

He hadn't killed just goblins out there. He shuddered at the vague fuzzy memory of what had happened when he lost it, regret and remorse filling him with its cold agony. Era had survived but that was not such a consolation anymore. She had watched him all that time. She hated him now, watching him from her cell opposite his again.

Yuugi shuddered to himself at the sight of her fearful disgust, he moved back into the corner of his prison. Were the cold chains coiled round him with the quality of the shadows of Hell. He didn't want to see that look anymore. Avoiding her gaze his eyes flickered up to the single bracket on the wall outside his cage, he concentrated on the flame, feeling that strange familiarity again. He blinked, and it went out.

Era gasped as Yuugi's side of the prison suddenly vanished into darkness due simply to the extinguished torch. No more then the faintest silhouette a sign that he still remained.

He sighed to himself in the darkness. He was beginning to realise that no matter what he did there was no way he could get through this world looking and acting as he did now. If only there was a way for him to look more like an elf. What had he done before he was imprisoned in that Hell for a crime he couldn't remember? He racked his brain for an answer, a memory, anything! But received nothing.

Yuugi looked at himself in the reflection of the crude water basin they had left him. Large purple eyes silted down the middle with black; sharp fangs that could never be mistaken for normal teeth; pointed ears that were shaped differently, and were even longer, then Era's. He glared at the reflection, broke the bowl. He closed his eyes and, for lack of anything better to do, concentrated on an image of himself like an elf. He liked the image, although he could imagine it being less mobile then his current body.

He gasped at the sudden feel of something so strange and so alien that he fell back onto the floor and into the puddle of water. The chains rattled. Steam hissed up around him at the natural heat of his body but he didn't notice because his tail was convulsing violently beneath him, his wings snapped into his back feeling like they were being sucked into his shoulder blades. He held his breath as the air was pulled from his lungs, bit his lip and made it bleed to stop from making a noise. His muscles twisted, knotted impossibly around shifting bones, the pain was intense but he had to stay silent, had to.

And then as suddenly as it started it was over. Whatever it was. He lay there gasping for a moment, feeling very acutely the distinct differences in his body. He tried to move his tail and to his distress felt nothing respond, the muscles that coordinated it were no longer there. He tried to use his wings to help push himself up from the floor but then noticed that he could only feel his back pressing against the rock beneath him his wings weren't there! With an effort Yuugi rolled onto his side, he could still feel that strange shifting inside his body but it didn't hurt as much now. He tried to stand on all fours but noticed immediately how uncomfortable it had become, how impossible to move properly.

Yuugi looked down into the distorted reflection in the puddle under him and nearly yelped at the sight that met him. It wasn't a demon that was staring back at him. But the Change hadn't finished yet. Even as he watched the slits in his eyes condensed into small round central dots. His ears shrunk until he couldn't see them over his hair. His sight and hearing blurred slightly, as did his sense of smell, becoming less potent.

Realisation struck him. He smirked darkly.

And distantly he heard the door swing open, but he immediately noticed that it was done with incredible care. The scent that reached his nose was pleasant and enticing, not the goblin reek, and the footsteps he heard were balanced and thought out, someone was using stealth.

Yuugi moved back into his chains a little more, hiding in the shadows as his body completed the Change. He faintly wondered what the other elves would think of this.

He looked down at his new hands in the darkness, a small smirk growing on his lips, no one would believe Era now when she told them he was a demon.

Era's words returned to him as the shadow of the approaching figure flickered closer. It was no goblin.

"Don't worry, the prince is coming. The prince will save us."

The prince wouldn't even know what he was saving.

"Well either way there's nothing I'm going to do about it now, it took me forever to convince what's-his-name to make it."

"Like I said before, if it's big and expensive he's gonna like it. It's a royalty thing."

"Or a thief thing."

"Oh Ryou how you wound me."

"You know I could break it up and turn it into a kind of puzzle…"

"WHAT! Break up a perfectly good hunk of gold! Are you mad!"

"Thief thing."

"Alright, alright I'll leave it. But it's officially you're fault now if he doesn't like it."

"Trust me."

"Difficult."

"Speaking of that royal idiot (don't you growl at me Yuugi), don't you usually meet him around midnight?"

"…Yes. Why?"

"Because midnight was an hour ago."

"…SHIT!"

AN: Well then. That was fun. Uploaded a second time to change a couple of things but I dare say it still has problems.

Next chapter they meet! Yay! Puzzleshipping here we come... err eventually. Falling in love isn't exactly on either of their 'to do' lists, but it'll happen wether they like it or not.

Please Review!