Fury of the Empire

Yugi's resistance army decides to undertake its next mission before the Empire strikes back. With Tsughut confused about what to do, the resistance plans to free a large agricultural village in the South.

The first victory of the Resistance went over well. The people of the Makhad area as well as the rebels and their monsters are in high spirits. However, the celebrations can't last forever, and so Shimon brings out his maps for another round of planning. He and Yugi discuss their next mission in a room of the local inn.

"Our success in freeing the Makhad area has strengthened the determination of the resistance supporters." Shimon looked to Yugi, anticipation in his eyes. "Let's strike the stores of imperial forces while morale is high. We can cut them off from their supplies." He tapped his finger on the parchment. "The southern part of the island is mostly farmland. The Empire works most of the farmers like slaves. If we can free this area, all supplies to Tsughut will be cut off, and we'll gain a significant advantage. However," he added, the tone of his voice going slightly darker, "General Sebeckal, one of the fiercest generals in the regular army, appears to be in the area."

"How much power does he have? Is he stronger than Etos?" asked Yugi.

Shimon nodded. "Sebeckal is a dangerous foe, well-known for his ferocity. I don't believe he has a large force with him, but we should still be careful not to make any mistakes!" He turned and studied the small sack of gold situated in the corner of the room. Beside it, three jars of blue liquid and one of gold powder glinted in the candlelight. "I believe we received some items from some of the supporters, correct?"

"Yes," Fizdis answered. She had just come up the stairs, carrying with her a tray with some food. She placed the tray on the table and took a seat across from Yugi. Unaware of just how hungry he had been until now, Yugi grabbed a roll and dug into it. "A young boy gave me one blue one and one gold one…"

"And I received two of the blue kind myself." Shimon paced over to the corner and collected the glass jars carefully in his arms. He placed them on the table beside the tray of food. Yugi set what was left of his roll down and picked up one of the bottles containing the blue liquid.

"Just what are these?" he asked, studying the bottle with interest. He turned the bottle around and the sparkling blue liquid swished, creating eddies of glitter.

"That is a type of recovery item, aptly named 'Blue Medicine.' During a battle or outside of one, it can heal some of the damage a monster has received. And this here," Shimon picked up the gold powder, "is another type of recovery item that revives a monster that has been defeated in battle. I am not sure as to what it is called."

"'Monster Reborn,'" Yugi replied reflexively.

Shimon stared at Yugi. "I suppose, Lord Yugi. Anyway, we'll need to divvy up these medicines before we head out tomorrow. Each monster can carry with them up to three items, for a total of nine on each team."

"I think," Yugi cut in, "that each one of us should take one of the Blue Medicines. At least that way it's fair."

"But then who will take the Monster Reborn?" asked Fizdis.

"Lord Yugi will take it." Shimon passed the bottle to Yugi. "Since he will be fighting Sebeckal and any other of the higher officers we meet, it is more important for him to be able to revive a monster than it is for either of us." Yugi nodded and set the glass bottle beside the blue medicine. "As for me, I think we're done planning for the night. Any last words for us, Lord Yugi?"

Yugi thought for a moment before saying, "Just get some rest. We're going to have a long day ahead of us, and as it looks, it may be more like several days."

That night, Yugi didn't get the rest that he prescribed the others. He tossed and turned in his bed, unable to remain peaceful as rough dreams invaded his head.

Yugi found himself standing in the middle of a huge meadow, with wildflowers hugging the hilltops all around him. A light breeze rustled his hair, carrying the bright sound of laughter to his ears. He turned and saw Fizdis and Shimon on the crest of a nearby hill. Four other people laughed with them, though Yugi could not identify them at this distance. All he could distinguish was their hair color: one blonde and unkempt, one brown and slicked forward into a spike, one flowing white, and a second brown one that fell to the person's shoulders. Wait a second…

"Joey? Tristan? Ryou? Téa? Is that you?" Yugi asked. The three unknown beings turned and waved at him. They motioned for him to join them on the hill. He smiled and was about to climb the hill when he felt something tug at his jacket. He turned around and saw Seiyaryu clinging to the tail of his jacket, eyes ablaze. Yugi tried to yank the fabric free but Seiyaryu kept it clamped obstinately in its beak. Just then Yugi heard the crash of a thousand bolts of lightning at once behind him.

He whirled around to face where his friends had once been and saw only a great fire roaring atop the hill. The flames licked at the sky and tore ravenously through the wildflowers. In the middle of it all stood Haysheen, his dark, beady eyes aglow with smug satisfaction. He raised his hand and a flood of Duel Monsters spilled over the hill, all of them the most gruesome-looking fiend-type monsters. (1) The monsters roared with savage glee and brandished various rusted weapons, aiming for Yugi and Seiyaryu.

Yugi paled at the sight and leapt onto Seiyaryu's back in a heartbeat. The small dragon flapped hurriedly up into the night sky. Seiyaryu tried to fly away quickly but the fire had leeched most of the oxygen from the air, causing it to lose energy fast. It flapped twice more in a futile effort to remain airborne; then in a faint sparkle of pink light Seiyaryu vanished into its jewel. Yugi cried out as his dragon disappeared beneath him and he fell to the ground with a thud. He tasted blood in his mouth as he struggled to push himself up from the ground.

Yugi's widened violet eyes reflected the red light of fire and blood as he turned and saw the fiends bearing down on him…

PROD. PROD.

"AAAAAH!" Yugi cried. His eyes flew open and caught sight of the darkened ceiling above him. He gasped for breath as he struggled to remember where he was. Yugi, you're in an inn, in a town, in a virtual reality simulator. It was just a dream, it was just a… Twin sapphire eyes stared down at him, almost glowing with reflected moonlight from the window. "Aaah! Oh, it's just you, Seiyaryu." Seiyaryu growled in acknowledgement. "Was it you who woke me up?" Yugi asked, sitting up. The dragon nodded. "Well, thank you. You sure did time it right."

Yugi reached forward and stroked Seiyaryu's neck absently, his thoughts wandering back to the dream. Why had he seen his friends destroyed by Haysheen? Was this perhaps foreshadowing of events yet to come? (2) Seiyaryu saw Yugi's worried expression and rubbed its beak against his cheek. Yugi shook himself from his reverie and turned back to Seiyaryu with a weak smile. "Thanks for trying to make me feel better. You're a good friend, Seiyaryu." Seiyaryu purred and closed its eyes, giving a slight nip to Yugi's arm as a sign of affection.

Yugi chuckled lightly. He gave Seiyaryu one last pat on the head. "Come on, we need to go back to sleep. Especially you; you've got a big job to do tomorrow." Seiyaryu nodded and pulled back from Yugi's hand. With a yawning roar it nestled itself at the foot of Yugi's bed. (There was extra room there, for Yugi wasn't tall enough to fill the whole bed, and Seiyaryu was small enough to fit.) Yugi smiled and lay back onto his pillow. His thoughts lingered on the dream for only a moment before he shoved it off and rolled over into sleep.

The first light of the sun had barely touched the morning sky when Yugi felt a sharp prod on his temple. He turned away from the poke with a grumble. "It's too early to get up, Seiyaryu," he muttered. Seiyaryu gave an irritated growl. Carefully, the dragon grabbed the tip of one of Yugi's golden bangs in its beak, hesitated for a moment, then yanked hard. That got Yugi's attention immediately.

"OW! Not the hair, not the hair!" He sat up quickly and hastily rubbed his eyes. "Okay, I'm up! You can let go now!" Seiyaryu glared and jerked on his hair again, pulling his head along with it. "OW! What do you want?" Seiyaryu rolled its eyes to the side. "What? I'm getting out of bed, don't worry! Sheesh!" Yugi threw back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stood up just as Seiyaryu tugged on his hair again. The pull threw Yugi off balance, causing him to fall face-first to the floor.

"OW! Ugh, Seiyaryu!" Yugi peeled his face off the floor. Seiyaryu sweatdropped as Yugi stood up and dusted himself off. "Next time you want to get me out of bed, do it less painfully next time, okay?" Seiyaryu nodded fervently and brushed its beak against Yugi's arm apologetically. Yugi rubbed his cheek but stilled smiled at his dragon. "Heh, it's okay. It was an accident." Yugi yawned openly and stretched his arms above his head. "Let's go make sure the others are up," he said.

He slipped on his shoes that he left beside his bed, yawned again, and made for the oak door of his room. He clicked it carefully open, for there were no doubt other guests staying at the inn whom didn't want to be awoken this early. The next room over was Shimon's, and Yugi found that the door was already slightly ajar. He poked his head inside the room. "Shimon? Are you up?" he asked quietly.

"Yes. I've been up for a little while now," Shimon's voice answered from right behind Yugi.

"AAH!" Yugi cried, leaping about two feet off the ground. He whirled around and saw Shimon carrying the Blue Medicine and Monster Reborn from last night. "Shimon! You scared me!"

"Sorry, Lord Yugi. I was just making sure that Fizdis was up. Indeed, she is, but she's having a bit of trouble getting her dinosaur to wake up. I gave her one of the Blue Medicines and was about to go check up on you when you came to my room. Here," he passed the two bottles to Yugi, "these are for you."

"Thanks. But Shimon," Yugi began, "last night you said that monsters could hold these items?" Shimon nodded. "Then how…?"

Seiyaryu nudged Yugi in the arm. Yugi turned to face it and saw its eyes closed in concentration. A pale pink light glowed from the gem around its neck. The light splashed against the dark oak walls and engulfed the two bottles of medicine in Yugi's arms. They dissolved within the light, as though they had never been there. Abruptly, the light was sucked back into Seiyaryu's gem. Just like that, the items had been stored.

Yugi blinked a few times. "Never mind. Seiyaryu answered my question."

"Yes, well, I believe we should get going now. Lord Yugi, would you go help Fizdis wake up her dinosaur? I still have a bit of cleaning up to do." Shimon waved his hand at the parchment maps strewn about the table from last night.

Yugi smiled. "Sure thing. Seiyaryu, you can help too." He turned and walked down the hall to the next door, which belonged to Fizdis. Yugi eased the door open and peered inside. "Fizdis? Shimon said you needed help getting Uraby up…"

"Lord Yugi! Yes, please, would you help?" Yugi opened the door all the way and saw Fizdis kneeling beside a giant brown lump in the middle of the floor. As he moved closer, he found that the lump was actually Uraby, asleep with its tail curled around it. "He simply won't budge. I think he may be faking it, but with him you'd never know…"

Yugi leaned over and scrutinized Uraby. His breathing was slow and regular and his expression neutral, so unless he was really good at faking it, he really was asleep. Yugi scratched the back of his head in thought. "Hmm… How to wake him up…" Fizdis looked to Yugi with her apprehensive brown eyes. Yugi was still thinking when Seiyaryu shoved past him suddenly. He stumbled a bit, but managed to prevent himself from falling.

"Seiyaryu, what are you doing?" he asked. Seiyaryu peered over Uraby with its keen eyes. It studied Uraby carefully; then after a satisfied snort it brushed its wings up and down Uraby's neck. Uraby's ruby eyes suddenly flew open. The dinosaur made an almost terrified growl and scrambled to its feet, eyes darting around the room. When they landed on Seiyaryu and found it grinning, Uraby gave an angry hiss.

"I don't believe it," Fizdis said with a giggle. "Uraby's ticklish!" Uraby glared at her as she continued to laugh.

Yugi turned to Seiyaryu. "You know, you're pretty good at waking people up Seiyaryu." Seiyaryu only continued to grin. Yugi gave a small chuckle before turning back to Fizdis. "Well, now that Uraby's up, we can leave." He looked out the window at the horizon, where the sun had just started coming up. "We need to make it to our destination before nine o'clock, otherwise we run the risk of being seen by the enemy."

Uraby nodded curtly, and suddenly was back to his "all about business" manner. With a snort he picked up the reigns from the foot of the bed in his teeth and spat them into Fizdis's arms. Uraby stood up unnaturally straight and held still as Fizdis attached the leather reigns to his neck. She gave Uraby a pat to the head once she had finished. "Come on, let's go downstairs, right, Uraby?" Yugi stepped aside as the two walked past and turned out of sight down the hall.

"Right. Seiyaryu, I left your reigns in my room. You go on downstairs and I'll catch up with you in a bit." Seiyaryu nodded and paced out of the room. Yugi went back to his room and grabbed the reigns hanging on the door handle. He gave one last glance around the room to assure that nothing had been forgotten, then turned and thumped down the stairs to the lobby below. Shimon met him as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Ah, Lord Yugi, there you are. We really must be leaving. Fizdis and Seiyaryu are already outside." He motioned to the door behind him. "Come, let's go." Yugi nodded and followed him out the door to where Fizdis sat atop Uraby and Seiyaryu stood off to the side. Seiyaryu purred when Yugi approached, earning more strokes to its neck. Gently, Yugi slipped the reigns over Seiyaryu's head and fastened them around its neck snugly. Seiyaryu bowed down and Yugi swung one leg over its back, pulling himself up with the reigns. He turned to Shimon.

"Is everything ready for us to take leave?" he asked.

"Yes, Lord Yugi. I've arranged a place for us to stay in the south. A contact of mine has offered to let us hide on his farm until night falls," Shimon said.

"But why do we have to wait until nighttime?" asked Fizdis.

"As I have said, the Empire works the farmers there to the bone. In order to maintain tight control over them, the Empire has set up many forts very near each other. That way, they can see the whole of the land around them," Shimon explained.

"Oh, I get it. Because it's all flat farmland, you can see everything that's going on in the fields from the towers. If you have enough towers, you can make sure everyone is working." Fizdis looked to Yugi. "But wouldn't that make it harder to sneak up on the enemy?"

"Yes," he answered. "That's why we have to hide out at this farm until night. Farmers do all of their work during the day, right? Because no one is outside at night, the guards don't keep as close a watch over the fields. It won't matter if we don't have any cover from the enemy, since they won't even be looking for us. All we need to do is take one fort and we'll have a means of attacking the others."

Fizdis nodded, though her chocolate brown eyes still shone with worry. "It sounds a little risky."

"War is risky, Fizdis," Yugi answered. "But we have to do what we have to do, and we have to help those farmers in the south."

"Yes," Shimon agreed. He raised one of his monster's gems high, and in a flash of yellow light he summoned Kaiser Dragon. The serpentine dragon hissed a bit as it stretched from its sleep. "I've changed my team leader to Kaiser Dragon temporarily. We need to get to our destination as quickly as possible, so I suppose I'll be flying there this time. After all, flight is faster than walking." Uraby snorted indignantly. He wouldn't be walking at all. He'd run the whole way just to prove that he could keep up without being able to fly.

"Right. Let's go!" Yugi dug his heels into Seiyaryu's sides, and with a roar the rose-colored dragon flapped into the air. Kaiser Dragon followed suit and took off as well. The two dragons flew with a fair amount of speed along the main road of the town, Uraby following close behind. Soon the town fell behind them and the open hills of the countryside were their only companions.

The resistance traveled for near two hours, before Shimon informed them that they were near their target.

"The farm is in the nearby area," he said. "We should keep a lookout for it, as well as for imperial soldiers or any other farmers who may alert the Empire of our arrival."

"Right," Yugi said. He directed Seiyaryu to slow down. Shimon and Fizdis did the same, earning appreciative pants from Uraby.

"I told you you'd get tired!" Fizdis said accusingly. "I asked you three times if you wanted us to slow down for awhile so you could catch your breath, but no! You had to act all tough! Now you're exhausted, and when we start fighting you'll be too tired to – "

"That's enough, Fizdis," Yugi said. "Uraby was just trying to get us here on time. Remember that he's carried you on his back the whole time. Yelling at him for doing you such a big favor won't make him any less tired."

Fizdis blushed and looked down at her fingers that were habitually twiddling together. "S-Sorry, Lord Yugi, I didn't mean to yell…"

"It's all right. But will you stop calling me 'Lord' Yugi? I already asked you not to."

"I'm sorry Lo- I mean, Yugi." Fizdis's face burned a deeper red.

The Kaiser Dragon gave an urgent hiss. Shimon nodded and said to the other two members of the resistance, "We have arrived at our destination. The farm we seek is over there." He pointed to a small, mud-brick house, beside which stood a rickety old barn.

Yugi studied it thoroughly. "It's modest enough – the Empire certainly won't think to look for us here."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Fizdis dug her heels into Uraby's sides and the tiger-striped dinosaur zoomed forward, towards the farm. Seiyaryu and Kaiser Dragon didn't even bother to keep up. They flew along at a moderate pace, allowing their passengers to converse on the way.

"Shimon, I know we have a figure on how many imperial troops are in the area, but how many of them are marshals?" asked Yugi.

"I'm not completely sure," Shimon replied, shaking his head. "There's at least one for every fort in the area, and there may be more."

"So…?"

"Four of them, at least."

Yugi flinched. "It was bad enough just taking on Etos, but now you're telling me that there are four of them this time?"

"Our situation isn't as bad as it seems, Lord Yugi. This time, we have the means to take a fort… And then we'll have a better defense for when we fight."

"If you say so…"

The pair arrived at the barn. A weathered man whom was probably a lot younger than he looked greeted them at the entrance. His skin was dark and leathery from his endless hours of labor in the sun. "Welcome, Resistance," he said in a humble voice. "I thank you for deeming our area worthy of your… effort."

"Don't thank us; we're only doing our duty," replied Shimon.

"Besides," said Yugi, "we should be thanking you for letting us stay on your farm. I trust the penalty for being caught with us is great?"

"Why, yes…" the farmer answered nervously. "Death or higher." He wrung his hands a bit fearfully at the thought. "But that is not important. Hurry, get inside the barn before the guards ascend the watchtowers and see you. It's nearly time for them to do so… This way." He waved a callused hand at the barn door, which was already slightly ajar.

Yugi nodded and slid off Seiyaryu's back. He gripped the reins and led the rose-colored dragon into the barn. The air inside was thick with dust and the scent of hay. Fizdis had found a stool and was sitting on it, but other than that it was empty.

The farmer read Yugi's expression and said, "I had to sell off all my livestock in order to keep my farm… The Empire was threatening to claim it from me." His face turned sad and he looked away.

"Anyway," he continued, "stay in here until night falls. Do not leave for any reason – the Empire sees all that happens on this land. My wife will come by later with a bit of food and drink should you need it." With that, the farmer left the barn and slid the door shut behind him. What little light there was in the barn dimmed and Yugi became suddenly aware of how stuffy it was. Violet eyes scanned the room. A rusty tool here, a spider web there – all in all, it looked as though it hadn't been used in months.

His eyes fell on Fizdis and he approached her. "Say Fizdis, where'd Uraby go?"

Fizdis raised her hand and pointed to one of the nearby stalls. The rickety door, off kilter on its hinges, had been jammed closed. One could almost hear the "Come inside and I'll redefine grumpy for you" within the warning growl that came from behind it.

Yugi recoiled a bit. "Ah, okay." He sighed and sat down on a pile of hay. Tiny shafts poked at his back but he ignored them. "It's probably a good idea that he gets some rest. We need to recharge for later, since we'll be up all night." Yugi leaned back against the wall. The smell of hay was almost hypnotic and his eyelids drooped. Above him, Seiyaryu had found a comfortable rafter and was nestled into a ball.

"Uh-huh," agreed Fizdis through a yawn. The floor suddenly looked very appealing and she slid from her stool, resting her head on the hay where Yugi sat. She was asleep not a minute afterward. Yugi tried to stay awake, but he didn't hold out much better than Fizdis before his eyes closed. He lied down on the hay next to Fizdis, the tips of his crimson-and-black hair just missing the top of her head. In another moment he was asleep, regaining what he had lost from his nightmare the previous night.

Kaiser Dragon coiled up in a corner and gave a sighing hiss. Beside the dragon, on a commandeered stool, Shimon cast a gaze over his sleeping teammates. He murmured something resembling "Ah, children," before pulling his hat lower over his eyes and following their lead.

Well guys, I guess I owe you all an apology. I could go into an hour-long rant, containing many an excuse, but I'll just leave that all out. I just plumb haven't worked on this thing at all. In fact, I need to go rediscover my notebook with all my game notes in it… Bah. Anyway, this chapter had nothing happen in it, except bore everyone. But if I had kept it with the rest of the chapter, it would've been too long… Compromise? (sheepish grin)

Notes? Uh…

(One) Orcs, anyone?

(Two) Heh, foreshadowing. When I wrote this, it was right after a joke with me and my friends involving foreshadowing… it's not really funny anymore, but what the hey?

Well now, it seems no one has reviewed. Uh… If anyone is actually reading this anymore, will you please review? Heh heh (mutter) I'm so pathetic…