Dream Prince
Chapter 7
Riddles
"How sweet", Bakura spoke out with a manic grin. "You must really like me, Shadi, to give me such an easy riddle."
"Those who have passed once will find it within themselves to pass again", Shadi replied and Yugi guessed that the man probably meant that the riddle would be easier each time you passed through. And that was the reason why Yugi's riddle was more difficult than Bakura's.
"How quickly will we have to give our answers?" Yugi questioned then and immediately had Shadi's soulless eyes focusing on him as the man replied: "You have as much time as you like. But be warned, young prince; the longer you stall, the stronger of a hold the illusions will get of you."
Not really wanting to know what those words meant Yugi started to recite the riddle in his mind: 'At sunrise I come, by sundown I'm gone…' That could stand for 'sun', along with the line: 'In the light of my rays you travel on'. Even the third line stood for sun, the line that said: 'I always come back so don't feel low '. However, it would be rather odd for the riddle to mention the answer in itself, not to mention that the last line did not fit. 'But I am never the same two times in a row…' Sun was exactly the same day after day; that was what his grandfather had taught him. So, the answer had to be something else, but what? Something that was similar to sun then? There was only one thing that came to Yugi's mind from 'sun' and that was…
"The answer is 'shadow'," Bakura spoke out then and Shadi replied his head in acknowledgement before uttering: "You are correct, Bakura. You may pass." And as Bakura walked to the other side of the stone tablet, stopping right there to observe Yugi, the small prince felt himself grow weary. It was becoming harder to think and Yugi suddenly realized with horrifying clarity what Shadi's talk about the illusions getting a hold of him meant. The longer Yugi thought, the harder it would be to think. The fog around him made him feel drowsy and did not allow him to think straight. Yugi would need to speak out his answer before he fell asleep and never woke up again.
"The right answer is 'day'", Yugi spoke slowly and hoped that Shadi would not disqualify him because of the slur in his voice. However, it seemed that the guardian had heard his answer clearly, as he bowed to Yugi and spread his arms to his sides.
"Your answer is correct. You are free to walk the pass, prince Yugi", the guardian said in a respectful tone of voice. "Let your journey be a safe one and may the gods look upon you with favour on your mission." After those words Shadi vanished and Yugi quickly scurried to join Bakura on the other side of the stone statue. He did not want to stick around, just in case some other guardian decided to pop up to ask him another riddle.
"We made it", Yugi spoke out with relief as he walked beside Bakura in the thick mist. The albino grunted in response but Yugi's mood was rising so rapidly that he was not bothered. It was amazing really, how good he would feel from simply spotting a couple of rays of sunlight piercing through the fog roof covering them.
1.
Bakura drove Yugi to his very limit during their journey through the desert. The young prince was thoroughly exhausted by the time the duo came across the first signs of human life. It was five days after they had left from Ateru when Yugi set his eyes on an entire town consisting of white tents of various sizes.
"What is this place?" Yugi questioned from Bakura who he knew to have travelled a lot and therefore to have seen such things before. "Is it some kind of a caravan?"
"It's a military training camp", Bakura replied. "If you want to get revenge on Dartz, the best way to find out where he is and get there is to sign up for the Egyptian army." The white-haired thief grinned at Yugi widely, flashing his sharp teeth. "No worries, though. I'll look after you until you get the hang of things."
"Thank you", Yugi said with a grateful smile at the taller teen. "I know you have your own business to take care of so I really appreciate it."
"Come on, then", Bakura spoke, grasping Yugi's wrist. "Let's check out the camping life." With that the thief started to drag the prince towards the camp. Yugi did not see any reason to fight against the pull, even thought he felt slightly uncertain of the whole thing. How was he supposed to fit in with a bunch of soldiers? He was nothing but a prince who had been mothered for his whole life. The only training he had gotten was how to a good queen for the prince of Egypt. That did not do him much good when the prince in question kept on refusing him. And just when Atemu had started to warm up to him, he had been isolated inside his kingdom by Dartz. There was a yet another reason for Yugi to hate Dartz. The sorcerer had split him apart from his future husband. And Yugi would not have even minded marrying the Egyptian.
As Yugi and Bakura made their way through the camp in an effort to find someone they could report to, Yugi's attention kept drifting to the young men they were passing. They all had typical features for Egyptians; very many of them had black or dark brown hair and sharp eyes. The eye colors differed from each other, however, and they varied in various shades of blue and brown. Many of the youths were above average height and had strongly build bodies. Yugi felt rather small and insignificant when faced with some of the tallest and strongest men they passed and the prince began to think that perhaps this was not such a good idea. He could not really keep up with people like them.
Not only were the soldiers tough looking, but they were tough acting as well. Whenever Yugi directed his gaze to a gathered group of males, he could see a table set up as they gambled each other. More than twice Yugi had noticed an even larger group that was creating a lot of noise, and Yugi was absolutely certain that he noticed two people wrestling on the ground. When Yugi had pointed one of those groups out to Bakura, the thief had merely scoffed and muttered: "Brutes." Yugi did not think that the white-haired teen had been thinking like Yugi then. Knowing Bakura, the white-haired thief thought that the only real way to fight was using bladed weapons that could be hidden underneath one's clothes.
Finally Yugi and Bakura got through the maze of tents, walking up to a large pond. It seemed that the camp was planned to be help up here for a longer time; that was what Yugi gathered from the anxious, clearly bored atmosphere in the camp. The tents did not really reach the oasis itself, but there were a couple of tents there, one of them rising a lot higher than the rest, even though they all looked to belong to some people who mere more than ordinary troopers. Yugi guessed that the largest tent must have belonged to the general or whatever who was in charge of the soldiers. The other tents then belonged to the general's lieutenants or something like that.
Now that they had almost reached the point of no return Yugi realized just what he was planning to do for his people, family and revenge. The full comprehension of his current situation brought a massive wave of uncertainty to Yugi's heart as the boy wondered if he could really go through with this.
"Bakura…" Yugi spoke timidly, gaining the thief's attention immediately. "Do you think it will all be okay?"
"It depends on what you mean by 'all'", Bakura stated. "If it means with signing up in the army, then yea I think you will be able to pull through in the end. It's going to take a lot of work with your wimpy stature, though."
"And what would the other option for 'all' be?" Yugi questioned. "This entire mission? Do you think I stand a chance at succeeding?"
"Really can't say", Bakura replied with a grumble. "I mean, there's freaking war brewing and even if one person could make a difference, that person would have to be pretty extraordinary." The white-haired thief looked Yugi straight in the eye with his crimson-tinted ones. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
With a nod Yugi spoke out softly: "I think I do. You're trying to tell me that I can't expect to make a difference without working for it."
"Yeah, sure", Bakura said as he turned to look at the large tent before them. "I you want to put it like that." The taller teen glanced at Yugi once more. "Are we going to do thins then or will we simply turn around on our heels and head back home?"
"We came this far, didn't we?" Yugi shot back, trying to sound a lot more confident than he felt. "I say we go for it."
"Just remember that after this there will be no more chances to run back home to mommy", Bakura said and started walking towards the tent.
"I know that!" Yugi shouted out after the white-haired youth before rushing off after the other. Bakura chuckled briefly before starting to speak: "Personally, I don't think this will be an all bad experience." He turned his face to Yugi again. "As long as you brace yourself for setbacks and always remember that Egyptians are stupid and smell bad."
Yugi did not remember Atemu, or anyone else in the palace to be like that and so he questioned: "How do you know that?"
"Are you questioning me?" came the dangerously low response and Yugi rushed to say: "No, or course not!"
Bakura smirked in a very satisfied manner as he spoke: "Good." The thief then rubbed his hands together gleefully. "As soon as we have gotten this over with we will go make you some new friends."
"Umm…" Yugi started. "Why?"
"So that you'll fit in", came the deadpan response, to which Yugi mumbled: "But they're all so… I don't know what to call them."
"They're Egyptians, that covers everything", Bakura said in a dismissive manner while he waved his hand slightly. Yugi was still doubtful but did not voice any of his thoughts. He would not have gotten a chance to do so, either, when a completely white-clad form was suddenly approaching them.
When the person got closer Yugi wondered what a woman was doing in a military camp. But that was what the prince thought before the stranger had reached them and spoke from behind a scarf that covered their face: "Are you here to sign up?"
The stranger had a clearly male voice even though his voice was soft. There was no way he could have been a soldier so Yugi guessed him to be either a summoner or a healer. The white-clad male directed his gaze at Bakura specifically as he continued: "I think I would remember if I had seen someone with white hair before."
"We're new", Bakura confirmed to the thickly clothed male. "Do you know where we are supposed to sign up and who we are supposed to report to?"
"Certainly", the male said in a friendly manner. "I'll have to run a quick check-up on you in case of some curses that might have been placed on you, or some masking spells." The male, now confirmed to be a healer, lowered his gaze in embarrassment. "There have been a couple of attempts of spies trying to infiltrate training camps all over the kingdom. One can never be too careful."
"That's understandable", Yugi spoke to the healer. "No worries, we won't be offended." Yugi decided that it was probably speak in Bakura's place as well, since who knew what the thief would say. Though, Yugi was not worried over his disguise. Would the healer detect it?
"I will lead you two to my tent, where you can wait while I get one of the officials in change", the healer explained as he turned around and started walking towards the small cluster of tents. Yugi and Bakura followed after him and after entering one of the smaller tents, the one closest to the actual camp, the two sat down on the rugs placed on the ground.
"I'll be back in a short moment", the healer said cheerfully before leaving the tent. Yugi immediately turned to Bakura and started to speak: "If he's going to check us for charms, he is certain to notice my camouflage. What can I do?"
"I'm not entirely sure he will notice a thing", Bakura spoke, surprisingly confident. "The magic of Ateru is different from the kind Egyptians use by many parts, not to mention Sugoroku is a very powerful sorcerer. I think there is a very strong possibility that he won't notice a thing."
Even though Yugi was not entirely convinced, he felt reassured somewhat and managed to stay calm even when the healer came back with a tall young man entering right after him.
The newcomer had piercing deep blue eyes and his tall and lean body held hidden strength in it that not many would have noticed. Yugi noticed this from the way Bakura tensed slightly beside him, like the white-haired teen was faced with possible danger.
After a short moment, the time it took for the new man to enter completely, Yugi recognized the person. It was Atemu's cousin, Seto, that had just entered the tent. Seto still had his brown hair modelled in the same fashion it had been all those years ago but the teen was now carrying symbols of power on his person, making Yugi realize that Seto had risen pretty high up in the ranks of priests during the two years Yugi had not seen the brunet or Atemu.
"Alright then, let's get this over with fast", Seto snapped coldly. "I'm rather busy so just state your names and the name of your home village quickly so that you can join the rest of your kind."
Not really liking the way Seto spoke Yugi's annoyance almost covered the horror he felt when he realized that he had not thought about either of those two things. And it really was almost. In the end the horror was the stronger feeling and Yugi felt panic course through his stomach.
"We're from a small village up in the mountains", Bakura spoke loudly and obnoxiously, the rude manner directing everyone's attention to him instead of the rapidly paling Yugi. "Its name is Akhom Anemro. It's the last town before the wastelands that spread out on the other side of the great river."
"Yes, yes, I know that place", Seto snapped impatiently. "No need to tell its exact location, moron." The brunet made a few marks into the scroll of papyrus he had been carrying with him. "And then your names."
"I'm Akefia and he's Rasui", Bakura said and pointed at Yugi with his thumb at the last part. Yugi had managed to calm down by then and therefore did not look suspicious when Seto's eyes glanced at him briefly before the brunet scribbled something down again.
Thinking about the name Bakura had given him, Yugi tried to remember what the word stood for. Then he remembered, and noticed it to be a fitting name. Rasui was 'dream' in Egyptian and that was exactly what their kind was called in the outside world.
"Alright then", Seto grumbled before turning to the healer standing a couple of steps away. "So, are they clean, Ryou?"
Yugi wondered how the healer, Ryou, had managed to check them from his position standing next to the priest but he did actually nod and say: "They're clean."
"That's that then", Seto spoke out before turning around to leave. "The two are free to join the rest of the lot. Hand them over to Sebi. He can show them the ropes." And with that the priest marched out of the tent.
"I apologise", Ryou mumbled in an embarrassed manner. "Priest Seto is like that always. You'd better get used to it, though, since he rarely acts any nicer towards anyone." That said the healer moved his hand towards the entrance of the tent. "Shall we go then?"
Both Bakura and Yugi got up without any complaints or further prompting and followed Ryou out of the tent and back into the forest of white tents. Soon enough the trio came across a wide clearing among the tents and there was a gamble going on in full spin.
"Sebi?" Ryou questioned as he neared the group. One of the men playing with the dice immediately looked up at the call and Ryou spoke: "We got two more rookies. If you'd get them equipped it would be most appreciated."
"Sure thing, Ryou", the man spoke in a deep voice and stood up. Yugi had to gasp when he saw how tall this Sebi was. The black-haired male was a real giant of a man and he was not only tall but well-muscled as well. Yugi could honestly say that he had never seen a bigger man before during his life.
Sebi had then reached Bakura and Yugi and the shorter of the two felt his stomach twist violently with fear, even though Sebi sounded nice enough as he spoke: "Let's get going then. We will have tents up for you two in no time."
Neither Bakura nor Yugi argued and it was not only because they did not have any complaints. They were simply too terrified to speak, even if Bakura would deny any fear later on.
To be continued…