In which Ryou has a scary dream.

A/N: This chapter is a bit of an interlude; it'll make sense once you get to the end, just trust me.

The dream is based off of a story that I heard long ago at guide camp. I don't know if the older guides had read it somewhere or had invented it themselves, but I always remembered it and now get to pass it on to others. ^^

I don't own any of the Yugioh or Zelda characters.

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Ryou sat with his head leaning against the car window, watching as the tangled undergrowth of the forest rolled by. There wasn't much out there: a mix of fir and cedar trees with prickly blackberry bushes crawling along below their imposing overlords. Ryou noticed that the seatbelt was digging painfully into his shoulder so he sat back and contented himself with watching the dirt road appear suddenly in the two interconnected puddles of light cast by the headlights before it vanished under the hood of the car. His father sat next to him, steering the vehicle with ease over the bumpy terrain.

"You'll just love the nature camp!" He exclaimed, looking over at Ryou with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Camp?" Ryou asked, unsure. He looked over his shoulder and saw that there was a large backpack lying on the back seat. Beside the bag sat a small brown terrier. When the dog saw that he'd caught Ryou's attention he wagged his tail and barked once. "Good job," Ryou told the dog without knowing the reason why.

"I used to go here all the time when I was younger," Ryou's father continued. "It's a lovely site. You get small, fully outfitted cabins right on the lakefront. You wake up to birdsong every morning and fall asleep to the crickets every night! And…" he added, his voice dropping conspiratorially, "you get to go on a special hike, right round to the other side of the lake where the old maximum security prison is. It was still open when I came here so we had to keep a good distance away from the fence, but it's been closed for over a year now. Who knows, you might even get the chance to go in and explore!"

"D-dad! Who in their right mind would want to do something like that?"

"Who wouldn't want to?" his father's voice dropped again. "It's rumored that before the prison closed down, some of the inmates went missing. The army was called in to search, but they couldn't find any trace of them. It could be that they died of exposure out in the woods, their bodies then consumed by the wild animals, or that they drowned in the lake. Or… maybe they're still out here living like ghosts among the prison ruins, just waiting for their next victim to wander by before they snap them up!"

On the word 'snap' Ryou felt something grab at his wrist. He jumped, his heart nearly skipping a beat. "Dad that's not funny!" he exclaimed when he'd calmed down enough to see that it was his father, now steering the car single-handedly, who had grabbed him. "I don't know why you'd even sign me up for a camp that might have psychopathic killers wandering about!"

"Ryou, Ryou. I said it was a rumor didn't I?" he chucked and released the teen's wrist. "There have never been any reports of incidents, or even sightings, of anything unusual at the camp. There's nothing to worry about."

The dog barked once again from the backseat and then fell silent, its tail curled at its side.

Not long after the path opened up and the car pulled into a large clearing. A fire pit sat square in the middle, the outlines of bodies sitting around the brightly dancing flames visible in the falling darkness. "They really weren't kidding when they said that road delays could add hours to your trip," Ryou's father remarked as he turned off the car and pulled the keys from the ignition.

A middle-aged lady was coming over to meet them, the word 'Leader' splayed across the front of her sweatshirt. "Hello," she said once they'd gotten out of the car, the dog also scampering out to stand near Ryou's feet. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"Sorry about the short notice," Ryou's father apologized. "I can't believe I missed the registration date!"

"No problem at all. As we always say here: 'the more the merrier'," she replied good-naturedly before turning to Ryou. "Most of the campers have already gone to bed, so you should just focus on getting a good night's sleep and worry about introductions in the morning. Now as to your accommodations…" The woman pulled out a clipboard and began to flip through the pages, angling them so that the light from the fire illuminated the white paper. "Oh, it seems that all of the main cabins are already filled to capacity…"

"Where will I sleep then?" Ryou asked, feeling a sinking sensation in his stomach.

The woman paused a moment, her brow furrowed in thought. "We have one other cabin a bit farther in the woods. It wasn't part of the recent renovations, but it's still really quite nice. It has a couple cots and an attached washroom."

Ryou's father cut in. "Is it the one with the deer antlers attached above the door?"

The woman looked surprised. "Why, yes it is. Have you stayed in it before?"

"Every year that I was here," the man stated proudly, winking at Ryou. "Don't worry son, you'll love it."

The white haired teen sighed, not feeling at all reassured. Bending down he picked up the dog and hugged the canine to his chest; the dog wagged its tail and licked his fingers reassuringly. "I guess that means I'll be staying alone…" Ryou wondered why it felt so painful to say that.

The camp leader had obviously heard the sadness in his voice because when she turned back to him there was pity in her eyes. "Why don't you keep your dog with you?" she suggested. "Normally we don't allow pets at the camp, but I think that we can make an exception in light of the circumstances."

"That's wonderful!" Ryou's father exclaimed before going to the car in order to grab the large bag from the backseat. He lugged it over to where his son stood and placed it at his feet. "Well I better be heading back now if I expect to make it home before tomorrow," he extended his hand to the camp leader. "Thanks for all your help," he said as she accepted his offer and shook it.

"Aren't you staying too?" Ryou asked wistfully, deep down already knowing what the answer was going to be.

"At a teen camp?" the man laughed and ruffled Ryou's hair. "Did you maybe bump your head this morning?" he teased. He made his way back to the driver's side door and pulled it open. "Have fun!" he called to Ryou before climbing in. The car rumbled to life, the glare of the headlights bright in the darkness before they turned away and vanished along the forest track.

Ryou watched the car go, a dead feeling in his chest. Why does this feel so familiar? He wondered before turning to follow the leader to his cabin, dragging the heavy bag along behind him.

---

The cabin was chilly, Ryou remarked as he crawled into the cot and pulled the covers up around his ears. It also smelt faintly of dust and rusting metal pipes, a smell that not even leaving the mesh covered windows open seemed to be able to dispel. There weren't any dressers or closets, so Ryou had left his bag mostly unpacked, rummaging through only to find his pajamas and a toothbrush with toothpaste. Even with the rusty smell all the washroom facilities seemed to work perfectly well and the water was clean. There was even a shower in the washroom, something that had surprised Ryou considering the rustic atmosphere of the camp.

Closing his eyes Ryou tried to fall asleep, but every couple minutes he found his eyes opening a crack to peer at the empty cots surrounding him; he shivered, and not from the cold. Subconsciously he lowered one hand off of the mattress and let it swing back and forth like a pendulum just above the floor. He jumped as there was a happy bark from beneath the cot and then something was licking his fingers.

Ryou relaxed when he remembered about the dog. Having the dog lick his fingers, telling him that everything was alright, felt so natural and he wondered if he'd always done this and just forgotten due to the strain of being in a whole new environment. Regardless of the past Ryou felt himself drift off to sleep, the hand the dog had licked curling back up under the blankets and resting against his chest.

It was several hours later when Ryou woke up again. At first he wasn't sure why he'd suddenly been pulled out of a deep sleep and lay on his back, staring at the dark wooden ceiling. The sound of running water slowly caught his attention and he sat up. It was too steady to be rain and too near to be coming from one of the other cabins. Ryou swung his legs out of bed, shuddering as his bare feet came in contact with the cold floor. He made his way over to the bathroom, fumbling along the wall all the way for the light switch. He never found it and by the time he'd made it to the bathroom counter he'd given up. He patted the smooth surface until he came to the sink, and then sticking his hand into the dip confirmed his suspicion. Cold water was rushing out of the faucet. He turned it off, feeling slightly confused as to how it had been turned on in the first place.

"Just my luck…" he moaned before heading back to bed, noticing in passing that the metallic scent in the washroom had gotten stronger. Once he was safely back under the covers Ryou dropped his hand down and smiled when he felt the dog lick his fingers.

Ryou hadn't been asleep long when he was awakened again by the sound of water.

"Awww…" he moaned, burying his head into his pillow in an effort to block out the noise. Despite his best attempts it wouldn't leave him alone and so once again he found himself crossing the cold floor to the washroom and making his way to the sink. This time it was the hot water that was on. Ryou withdrew his hand quickly from the scalding liquid and shut off the tap.

Ryou stumbled back to bed and had barely made it under the covers when the dog licking his fingers sent him off to sleep.

Disoriented and disgruntled, Ryou found himself waking up for a third time in the night, the sound of running water rushing into his ears. He pushed off the bed, too irritated to notice the cold bite of the floor on his feet or the scent of iron washing over his tongue. He marched to the bathroom and stuck his hand in the sink, not even needing to feel around for its location anymore.

There was nothing there.

Ryou stood dumbstruck. If the sound of the water wasn't coming from there, then from where? He remembered that the cabin had a shower and made his way along the wall in its direction. When he'd made it halfway his fingers brushed over something hard. It was the light switch, finally. Ryou flicked on the lights and stood still a moment, letting his eyes adjust.

The white shower curtains were drawn shut, the sound of water coming tauntingly from behind them. The smell of iron was almost overpowering now and Ryou wrinkled his nose as he took hold of the flimsy plastic. He threw back the curtains, the scowl on his face proof that he was ready to scold the shower for interrupting his rest.

What he saw stole the fire from his eyes.

Ryou dropped to his knees, his hand flying up to cover his mouth. Something was hanging off the shower chord like a gutted fish: only this was no salmon. Ryou watched in horror as the corpse of the small brown dog swung back and forth, pushed by the gentle stream of water. Its small furry body had been beaten until it was barely recognizable and bits of organs and intestines bulged from the one long gash that had been made along the dog's stomach.

Tearing his eyes from the corpse Ryou noticed that the white tiles were covered in a spray of red dots. He felt his head grow light and the dots began to dance across his vision, and so he almost didn't notice one patch of tile that had been wiped clean, the dots here transforming into orderly lines.

Words. Ryou felt himself dropping away. What do the words say?

Murderers lick hands too.

---

"AAHHHHH!"

Bakura awoke with a start just in time to be hit by a flailing arm. "What in the name of Ra?" he cursed before pouncing on his writhing hikari.

Ryou continued to struggle blindly, his eyes white with fear. "The dog!" he cried out into the night. "Licking…"

"Ryou, it was only a dream, now get a hold of yourself!"

"B-but the murderer, he…" Ryou was shaking and panting for breath.

"Oh for the love of Ra…" Bakura sighed and dropped down beside the terrified teen, embracing him tightly. Ryou's body remained rigid and Bakura could feel hot tears dripping onto his neck. "Nothing happened, it was just a dream," the thief crooned before tilting his hikari's head back and licking the tears from one of his cheeks.

The world was very still for a moment, and then it exploded.

Bakura found himself tumbling along the ground, Ryou having kicked him off with a strength that surprised the thief.

"The murderer was licking!" Ryou exclaimed, backing up until he was pressed against the cool stone of the city walls that stood not far from where they'd been sleeping. "Bad licking…"

"And now my bruises have bruises." Bakura muttered before rolling so that his back faced his hikari. "If that's all the thanks I'm going to get then you're on your own."

And with that the thief sunk back into slumber, leaving Ryou to scrutinize every shadow until dawn.

---

Bakura: Well that was kind of disturbing…

Ryou: The rating didn't end up going up though.

Chronos: I don't know if it should have...

All: ... *ponders*

Link: *pops out of thin air* There were so many references to the previous chapters!

Chonos: *Laughs* What can I say? I like that kind of thing ^_^

Ryou: R&R!

Bakura: And tell Chronos if you've heard the scary story this is based off of before so that she knows if she should put in some sort of crediting…