A Yugi/Yami story

Through a Dragon's Eye

Chapter 14-Dark Memories

Yami was really out of it. When he was slammed against the ground he must have hit one of the many rocks that were scattered all over the beach. He was drifting in and out of dreamland once again; barely even realizing that he was being carried towards the living nightmare called a boat. He couldn't see anymore but he did know that he was thrown on the floor of the deck like a side of beef, and then thrown up against the mast and being tied with chains.

As soon as he hit the deck he felt a terrible pain, a great sadness flow through him like a river breaking through the dam. He wasn't sure if he was feeling it from the ship or his own pain, but the pain he was feeling was so extreme that he fell even deeper into the darkness.

He could hear a soft cry against him, but his brain felt so fogged over that he couldn't make out whose voice it was. He then felt hands seize him and shoved him against something very hard while he heard another whimper right beside him. That final slam against his head was what knocked him out once again. He dreamt of his past once again…

… of the day he ran away.

He had enough of the pain his father had given him since the day that mom died. All of his punishments, both mentally and physically, were harsh—but nothing compared to what his father did one day.

He had just woken up after a particularly painful beating from his father and he had gone to bed with a back covered in bruises and awoke to see the sun rising in the eastern sky. He stretched out like a cat before getting up and prepared for the day ahead.

Yami outside to see to get some fresh air, that's when he spotted something usual. His father was running round to the back of the house; he was hurrying as if he was hoping that no one would spot him. Burning with a curiosity that always got him into trouble; he quietly snuck around to the corner of the house and very quietly poked his head around the corner. He saw his father's back to him, talking to a man in a black cloak, they were talking…

"… told you before. He's not the one that we're looking for. But make no mistake he has some kind of future connection to the one that we're looking for," said the man in the cloak.

"What kind of connection?" his father asked almost angrily. "All this time you had me thinking that he's the one that we needed, and now you say that you found the real one?"

The man in the black cloak shrugged, "It's not my fault. I'm just doing what I'm told to do alright? I'm just letting you know that are plans are still on, we just needed another person. The only problem is getting to him. It will take some time for he lives farther away than we had first planned. But things haven't changed; we just need to wait a little bit longer. But I do see that your little brat will be playing a bigger part in this then we first thought."

"Me? Play a bigger part than what?" thought Yami confused. "What the heck were they talking about?"

"Look," the man in the dark cloak went on, "Everything will go according to plan, we just need the…" he suddenly stopped talking. The man looked over his father's shoulder and straight at Yami. Yami knew that he was busted big time… his father turned to see his son barely looking out at them from the corner. He face turned beet red, a pulse in his neck began to stick out, and his face was that of pure fury. He strolled over, his eyes hard and he was messing with something behind his back.

"What are you doing here?" questioned his father. Yami took a step backwards and fell over his own feet, "I didn't see anything, father," he said quickly. Suddenly he felt a strong, piecing sting on his left shoulder blade. He grasped his shoulder in pain; when he doubled over in agony, he felt a foot kick him hard in the ribs. As he rolled he felt a couple of his ribs break.

"Get up, Yami," said his father.

Yami carefully got up onto his legs. He felt the heat of the blood coming from his left shoulder. He did not say a word because he knew that his father would whip him again. His father then grabbed him by his throat and pulled him so closely to his face that Yami could smell his disgusting breath. "If you breathe a word of this to anyone…" he hissed so dangerously that Yami could feel fear in every part of his body. "Just one word… and your next punishment—will be you final punishment." He then threw him back on the ground. He left Yami on the ground moaning, and holding his ribs as he and the other man left to go into the house.

After five minutes, he was able to push himself to his feet. The pain was so intense that he could hardly see anymore, and he immediately fell back to the ground. He lay there, each breath was more painful then the last.

He wondered if there was a way to kill himself before his father came back. As he stood up, he winched in pain. His back felt like it was on fire from the mornings whipping. The wounds had re-opened and where now bleeding freely. He couldn't take it anymore. He was not going to stay here for another minute.

He was still young, but he knew enough that if he stayed here any longer then his father would one day kill him. He had to get out of this house… now.

He leaned against the side of the house as he tried to figure out what he was going to do and where he was going to go. Well, the first thing that he had to do was deal with these injuries. And for that he needed…

… Ishizu.

The young girl who lived in the woods with her brothers. She was always so kind to him and did whatever she could to help him whenever his father was beating him up. Yes, she was his only chance now. He then forced himself to walk. Oh, how he hurt so.

Somehow he made his way, almost crawling down the hill where he and his father lived. Somehow he was able to make his way into the town without drawing too much attention. Somehow he was able to reach the woods where Ishizu lived. However, his strength left him—just outside the wood—he leaned up against a tree as the pain finally won—and he did the only natural thing.

He fell into the darkness.

Yami felt something soft under his fingertips. 'This feels like silk," he thought, "It's nice—wait a minute, father doesn't have silk sheets and even if he did he wouldn't let me lay on them.'

He slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurry but his vision cleared up in a matter of minutes. The first thing he saw was the moonlight coming in from a small window a little ways up and across from him. His eyes then landed on a small bowl filled with water, and a rag on a table right besides him. It was then that he realized that he was lying on a very soft feather bed; Yami reached his hand to scratch an itch on his back but he felt a smooth blend of cotton, instead of the rough cotton his father always made him wear. He looked down at his chest to see a clean white tunic shirt. 'Somebody changed my clothes… Where am I?' Yugi thought.

Something strange also registered in his mind. His shoulder and ribs weren't killing him anymore; at least when he was lying down, he was sure that they were going to hurt more when he sat up. Slowly he left up the shirt to see that someone had tended to his wounds. He let the material fall from his hand. Before Yami could contemplate his situation any further there was a knock on the door.

And then a young girl with long black hair approached him.

"Hello Yami," The girl said in a gentle tone. "I'm glad to see that you awake. You had me worried for awhile."

"Ishizu?" Yugi said in a quiet voice. Ishizu smiled at him. "Yami I need you to role on to your stomach so I can see how your wounds are doing. What happened? My brother Marik was out gathering firewood and he found you leaning up against a tree. Odion then brought you up here for me to take care of you."

Yami sighed. "I think you already know the answer to that."

"Your father?"

"Who else would do this?"

Yami groaned in pain as he tried to clear his foggy mind. He tried to sit up so that he could look around the room but his ribs were in so much pain that it was impossible. He let out a small grasp and suddenly he felt someone gently putting him back in a laying position "Easy there Yami. Your injuries aren't going to be healed for while."

Yami let go a sigh. "Ishizu?"

Ishizu pulled the wet rag from the bowl and gently dabbed at Yami's forehead. "Yes, Yami?"

"Can I have some water? My throat feels like the desert."

She gave a small smile. "Of course, I'll be back in minute." She left the room.

Yami sighed again before looking out the window. The night sky was clear, he was safe, and as far as Yam was concerned everything was fine for now. He felt his eyelids drupe, and he went into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Yami groaned in pain as he started to awake from his long dream. He could feel the warmth of the afternoon sun on his face and the blankets he was tucked under felt so nice. His mind just wanted to go back to sleep but he was curious as to what had happened to him. The last thing he remembered was going around to the side of the house and then…

"Morning," said a voice.

Ishizu was standing in the doorway with a small tray of food.

"Ishizu?" said Yami confused. Why was she here? And then it all came back to him. His father had hurt him and he came here for help. Ishizu walked over to the bed, placed the tray on the table next to him, and asked, "Can you sit up?"

Yami took a deep breath and force his aching, stiff body up. It hurt—but it wasn't as bad as it had been. Ishizu put her hands on his shoulder and started to change his bandages, "I'm glad. You're healing faster than I hoped for. You gave us a scare."

Yami sat very still as Ishizu took care of his injuries, after awhile he asked her, "Does my father know where I am?"

She froze for a second before saying, "No, he doesn't. But he's furious with you for running off like the way that you did. I heard about it when I went to the market. I'm curious to know why you suddenly took off like that, when you could've left long before."

"I just did what I had to do. And you were the only one I could turn to. I needed help."

"Nevertheless, Yami" said Ishizu. "Running away from our problems never helps. I hope that you will be careful from this point forward. Your father isn't himself anymore. I've heard my fair share of rumors of what he does when he's alone. And I don't even want to think about half of them."

"I tried talking to him plenty of times about him but he just doesn't listen to me anymore."

"Hardly surprising. Your father always did take things too seriously. He should live closer to the earth. Thank goodness you're so different from him."

Ishizu smiled gently at him. "Eat, and then get some rest. You're gonna need it."

Yami awoke to see the rays of the sun pierce through the pre-dawn sky. The air around him felt cool; he smiled. He stretched his arms out like a cat. His smile widen when he felt no pain coming from his back or ribs. Carefully he pulled up his shirt to see that the bandages that Ishizu had put on him last night were covering up his just about healed shoulder.

He had been here for almost 3 weeks and Ishizu and her brother's did everything they could to help him. But he knew that he couldn't stay here forever. He had decided to leave as soon as he recovered. He knew that if his father ever found out where he went, then who knows what he'll do. The door opened to reveal Ishizu once again carrying a tray full of food. She smiled at Yami. She was very happy with the way his wounds were healing, "Good Morning Yami. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes," Yami said as she gently settled that tray on his lap, "My wounds are feeling much better, and I don't feel any pain at all."

"That's wonderful! I still want to check on them, just to be sure that they are fully healed."

Yami nodded while he drank some fruit juice. He finished his meal within fifteen minutes. When he was done, Ishizu took the tray and Yami rolled over on to his stomach. She gently peeled away the bandages. The wounds were indeed fully healed but sadly the lasted set of whip marks on his shoulder stood out brightly as new scars on his back. Ishizu looked sadly down at her patience; she knew that the remainder of his scars would always be there. Most would fade with time but not all of them.

"You can roll over on your back now. Your wounds are fully healed Yami."

Yami smiled brightly at her. She smiled back but it quickly faded. "Yami, what are you going to do now?" she asked as he got up.

Yami didn't answer for a moment, "I can't stay here, Ishizu. You know that right? I'm grateful for everything that you and your brothers have done for me these last few weeks—but if my father found out where I am—he said that my next punishment would be—my final punishment." He looked back at her and saw her sad expression.

"I knew you were going to say that," was all she could say. They were silent for a moment before she got up and said, "Well, we should get you prepared. My brothers are off on another trip and they won't be back for awhile. You know how they leave for weeks on end."

Yami turned his head from her; "Thank you" was all he could say.

She helped him pack a small sack of a pair of extra clothes, food, a small water sack, and a map that a little kid could read. (Which was good seeing how he was a little kid)

She walked with him to the outside of the woods, far from the village, but close enough to the open road. "Just follow this road and it'll get you out of here no problem. I can't say where you'll end up yet though."

"This is fine Ishizu," he turned to her face to face. "Thank you again for everything that you and your family did for me. Please say goodbye to your brothers for me when they get back."

"Can do," she said simply. She hugged him hard for a moment before whispering in his ear, "Always remember, Yami. We each have our own destiny. Each one of us has a destiny that's different and special. I hope that you find yours. Good luck."

He hugged her back though still not sure that he understood what she meant. He walked down the road only looking back once to see Ishizu in the distance waving goodbye. He waved back and continued on; after walking for a while he turned to look back again—but he was so far off that if she was still there—he couldn't see her.

While he walked he thought on what she said to him. 'We each have our own destiny… one that's different and special…' was that true? If it is then he guessed what his was. First he lost his mother, then his father, his home, everything he ever knew… maybe it was his destiny to be alone.

Yami's memories of the last year came through his mind. The day he met that women on the horse—the next day when he met Yugi—the few days at the spring—every adventure they had together after they left. And he knew that he really did misunderstand what Ishizu said to him.

It wasn't his destiny to be alone… it was to get him and Yugi out of this trouble… find Swiftflight… and to become as free as the wind is one day. It wasn't going to be easy… but then again no one said it was going to be. He felt that he had become a stronger person since the day that he met Yugi, there were plenty of time that he wanted to give up; but instead the two of them fought on together as team.

There was no way that he was going to let this whole experience be for nothing. And there was no way that he was going to let Yugi down now. He was going to find a way—somehow.

His memories faded—he felt sore and tired all over. He then remembered—he had been knocked out again. He opened his eyes—he was tied to the mast of the ship that he saw—and next to him, as always, was Yugi.

Yami blinked a few times to clear them, and to get a grip on what was going on.

"Yugi?" he whispered.