Connections

Stardust watched as his mate continuously paced about her chambers. After so long, they decided to simply make the ravines connect. It hadn't been hard, really; those with wings flew towards the rather close-by home of Leyvaten, and several tunnels were created to allow those that were grounded to travel between the two places. He wasn't sure what she was thinking, it was quite the pensive look on her face.

"What're you thinking about?" He finally asked.

She gave him a glance, "Jake. How he talks to duel monsters so casually. Those guys that called him the Speaker of the Cards. Bringing us out there in real life bodies. All that stuff. Obviously it's all connected, but I have to wonder if him teaching the others to talk to their decks is, too."

"He can sense from a distance if a deck's voices are silenced," Stardust commented from where he sat, getting her to stop and look at him. "First time we ran into Roman, remember? He was the first to notice the guy; called him out before he had a chance to get the jump on us."

Leyvaten gave her mate a small smile, "He felt physical pain whenever he encountered the Dark Tuners and their subsequent summons."

"To the point where this very ravine shook. Not to mention it carried over to me, when it shouldn't have."

"Because you aren't connected to him at all. He can hear you simply because he's been able to do that for as long as I've known him, and the others can hear you because of a sort of broadcast system that lets them pick up on what we say in our real world bodies."

"And Rex's deck caused him enough pain to make him unconscious, something about it being too much of a conflict for him to be able to take it."

"Blue-Eyes appearing out of nowhere, something about him being a pure soul."

This back and forth deducing had brought them to start more or less circle each other, bouncing these ideas around as the clues kept popping up about Leyvaten's chambers. This deducing thing was very exciting, mostly because of the way it got them to interact and show how well they knew each other's thoughts... and partly because of how Sherlock and Watson it felt.

"But he can summon dark attribute monsters without worry, Darkflare Dragon."

"He's a fairly new member of the ravine, as is Lightpulsar. Something about them got Jake's attention; he claimed that their voices seemed to stand out, something about them practically calling out to him and how they seemed to be who he needed to put in the deck. So the attribute isn't problem, especially since he's summoned other dark monsters before with little problem. He just said that they didn't feel right to have in the deck, despite being able to hear them as clearly as the rest of us."

"Not to mention he's able to put his whole heart into each duel, especially synchro summons. As we both know, synchros can be summoned by anybody, but not just anybody can summon a synchro the way the Signers can, even before they met him. Jake's on that level, been on it for years. Maybe even above it."

"Not to mention he brought them to life, and it drained him to the point of losing his balance."

"He heard my ravine's cries for help even though we weren't connected just yet, and we have an entire mountain seperating us. From what I've been told, while I was held captive, they hadn't even had to leave the confines of the ravine in order to get his attention."

"And not just get his attention, but wake up from near-unconsciousness. I should know, he was out cold on the bed Akiza let him use at the hospital. Next thing I know, he's getting his shoes on."

"Don't forget that whenever a deck is helping a duelist harm our friends, he's been known to let his rage take over, and it's the kind of rage that a protective dragon would put out."

"I have to admit, it does give that kind of sensation. We would have noticed it anyway back at the Heimann duel, but it had the sense of a dragon rearing their head to deliver their wrath, so it really caught our attention. You were wary of approaching him at the time."

"Instincts were telling me to be careful, something in my subconscious warning me that something inside him was getting ready to pounce and one bad move could send the danger the wrong way."

"Was there anything he did when the Crimson Dragon came about? When it first manifested?"

"He relaxed more than I've ever seen him relax before. The ravine itself seemed to be calm, our crops flourished weeks earlier than they should have and the river was cleaner than ever. The water even tasted better."

"The deduction of why Yusei was suddenly able to hear his own deck and Jake's? It seemed like a rather specific guess, to me."

Leyvaten paused as they paused, standing very close together, smiling as they looked each other in the eye. "It seems that everything's connected to my duelist and my ravine, maybe even yours. But why?"

"Perhaps a clue lies back in my chambers," Stardust said after a minute of thought. "I don't know why I hadn't thought of this sooner, it's on my wall, after all!"

Leyvaten raised an eyebrow as her mate launched into the air, something she did as she followed him. She was glad that Jake hadn't heard all of that, since he was currently nigh-unconscious as he rested from the last duel with Primo. The bringing of those two other dragons into the real world had drained him again, especially since it was right after doing so to the two Signer dragons. He'd be out for another week at the least, and the Signers didn't have another duel for a few days, so everyone was taking the time to recuperate for the upcoming fights. It gave her and her mate time to be together and relax as well.

"Here we are, my room," Stardust said as they finally landed at an open balcony near the upper area of the mountain near his ravine.

"This high up?"

"Closer to the stars."

Leyvaten smiled, "Makes sense. So what is it you wanted to show me?"

"This."

She turned to look as he pulled back a curtain to reveal odd, unknown lettering etched into a tablet there. Her smile slowly slid off her face as she stepped closer, eyeing it with eyes that were growing wider with each word.

"I don't have a clue what it is or what it says," Stardust says. "Nobody I've talked to can read it, and I didn't –"

"I can."

"...Pardon?"

"I can read it. All of it."

Stardust glanced from her to the tablet and back again. "Really?"

"It's talking about him. Jake. It refers to him the same way that Primo guy did, Speaker of the Cards."

The male watched as his mate almost went into a trance, slowly reading the tablet as she spoke, both of them gaining a larger understanding of just who the boy was.

"Says that out of all humans in the real world, there is only one at a time that is to be the Speaker of the Cards. As soon as one passes on, another is chosen. They are able to communicate with any and all cards as easily as they do a real person, and they will be powerful duelists. Powerful enough to be wary of their power; a Speaker of the Cards that feels threatened is the same as facing the unbridled wrath of a full-grown dragon."

"Explains our reactions when he faced Heimann; he felt threatened because our friends were hurt. He thought that those jerks were targeting people close to him, which makes one feel like they're going to be attacked, so they lash out in self-defence before the attacker can strike properly."

"There's more to it though," Leyvaten said. "A truly angered Speaker has happened only once before, it says... it claims that it is the equivalent of making an enemy of the universe itself. It doesn't say what happened to whoever angered that Speaker, though."

"Does it say anything else?" He asked when she paused for a significant amount of time.

"No, the text fades too much except for this little part down here. It says something about a Speaker's powers being hidden within the connection they have to the monsters they duel alongside with. That's it; it's all too worn down by the stupid elements and stuff to read anything else."

Stardust nodded understandingly. He stood there for a minute with her, letting her stare unfocused at it for a bit, before gently leading her to sit down staring up at the stars with him on the balcony. He wrapped a wing around her and drew her close, letting their warmth spread between them as she continued to mull over what was going on with her duelist. She'd known since they'd met that he was a special one, considering his ability; but to learn he was one in a long line of very special humans was new and, to be honest, it made her worry for him. What would happen if he learned of this? Well, he was already a target from those New World guys that had mentioned him being a threat to their plans.

As her mate's warmth soothed her, it slowly lulled her into a restful sleep, letting her thoughts go as she leaned against his shoulder to finally rest for a time. She'd think more on this with him later.

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"How are you guys doing?" Stardust asked Black Rose and Black-Winged the next morning, watching them closely as they continued to adjust to no longer being in the duel monster world. It wasn't difficult to be perfectly honest, but he still wanted to check. With the growing number of dragons appearing in the world, things were getting kind of ridiculous.

"Still trying to get used to not being in our ravine," Darkpulsar admitted. "I have to admit, it's kinda exciting, but..."

"Yeah, we get to personally see how you react to everything, too," Yusei chuckled. "Entertaining at the very least."

Crow laughed, "The vacuum cleaner was the best!"

Stardust looked to Darkpulsar and Lightspear, both whom looked sheepish and embarrassed. Those looks only made him wonder what had happened. But other things came first.

"We think we found something out about Jake," He told them, noticing that the entire garage went dead silent at his words. The group of duelists, from Akiza to Yusei, and each of the dragons, turned to him and Leyvaten. The two of them took a few moments to explain.

"Explains why Primo said he was a major threat to their plans," Jack commented. "If a Speaker of the Cards is really as dangerous as the slab said when they're really pissed, then I suppose I'd count that as a problem for any kind of plan."

"That's probably why he immediantly went after Jake as soon as he figured it out," Yusei said. "The moment Primo realized it, he completely ignored me and Stardust. It's like he didn't care about us anymore after that, at least until we did our Accel Synchro."

"He vanished again for a moment when that happened," Leyvaten said. "Remember back when Blue-Eyes appeared, and I lost contact with him? The same thing happened when you did that. But there was no new card in the deck; I checked. The ravine was devoid of any new members, as well."

"Wait," Lightpulsar suddenly said, standing slowly. "The ravine... you said that the ravine shook back when he shared that pain from the Dark Signers, right?"

"Yes...?" Leyvaten said, raising an eyebrow. Then they both shot up, as realization dawned on her, and she slapped her forehead. "Oh, how could I have been so bloody stupid!"

"What? What is it?"

"The ravine! The ravine itself! It's a reflection of Jake's heart!" Everyone looked at her to explain, and it slowly dawned on them all how much sense it made. "The pain from the Dark Signers, it shook when he finally shared it, to the point where it reached Stardust's ravine and even rebounded to him here in the real world. Against Heimann, when we felt that rage from him; you know that feeling you get when you can just tell that someone's angry? Mystletainn tells me that a shiver went down everyone's spines when he ran into that guy's deck, and that the ravine seemed to shake in its own rage."

"So that means that this connection he's got to the duel monsters, like the slab said, runs far deeper than just communication," Crow continued. "It means that, kind of like Luna, his very soul has a tether to the place."

"But I can't talk to the spirits as easily as he can," Luna spoke up, Leo nodding in agreement with his sister.

Bruno spoke up next, "I think that's because you were chosen by the spirits to come to their aid. They taught you, whether you know it or not, how to speak to them. Jake didn't need to be taught like that; he was born with the ability to talk to them, probably before he was even able to properly walk and talk."

"And if the ravine is a reflection of him," Stardust said to his mate. "Then it must have more information about what it means to be a Speaker of the Cards!"

"Let's go look. I can't wait any longer, I have to find out now. Especially since it's been under my nose for so damn long and I didn't even know!"

With that, the two of them returned to the duel monster world. They had a mission to accomplish.

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She couldn't believe she didn't think of this sooner. The members of her ravine that were there, some being in Stardust's and two of them being in the real world at the moment, were already beginning to search through their home as carefully as possible. If they damaged it, who knew what would happen to Jake? She and her mate joined in for a while, but it was fruitless. The ground was solid, nothing was seen from the highest altitude she or any dragon could manage, and there were no spells or enchantments that a Spellcaster could sense or find.

"Leyvaten?" Stardust said after a couple hours of finding nothing. "Why don't we try your room?"

"My room? There's nothing there," She said.

"We haven't even check it yet."

"But... oh, alright."

With a bit of a sigh, she flew off towards her chambers, with him following close behind. Once there, the two of them started to look about, although she wasn't very enthusiastic about it. Stardust was very tolerant towards her attitude, just proved to her he was worth it. As she was glancing under the bed, though, out of curiosity, something caught her eye.

"Hey, help me move this."

Within a few minutes, the bed had been shoved to the side, and Leyvaten found exactly what Stardust had thought might be there: a clue. Specifically, a handle to what might be a trapdoor, and when she pulled on it, she found that it was exactly that. When a glance to Stardust confirmed that he would be going with her, they vanished down through it quickly, finding themselves on a landing a few feet below that lead to a large hallway leading down. As soon as the trapdoor slammed shut and darkness filled their vision, torches flared to life all down the hall. Despite being only a bit below the floor of her room, the hallway was surprisingly large – and they both silently started down it almost immediantly.

At the end, there was a single enormous cavern, filled with lit torches that actually didn't show all that much – except for the ceiling. The ceiling was completely different on either side. On the west side, there seemed to be an image of the setting sun, and the east held the rising moon, stars accompanying it. And in the dead center of the room, was a statue of a dragon.

"Dear Ra... he's... he's huge..." Stardust whispered, eyes wide. "Look at that wingspan!"

"It's from wall to wall," Leyvaten agreed. "His head's practically touching the ceiling!"

"What dragon is he?"

"I... I have no idea..."

She said this as she started to flew up to the statue, reaching a claw out to the snout as she hovered close.

"Leyvaten, wait," Stardust called, flying up close to her. "I don't know if this is safe."

"He's just a statue, Stardust."

"No... I get the feeling he's not."

Your mate is correct.

Both of the smaller dragons pulled away as fast as they could at the voice that seemed to echo from everywhere around them. They watched as the eyes to the statue slowly peeled open. One was the color of the morning's soft blue, and the other the shade of the evening's fading light. The pale gray stone slowly faded away from his body, as a soft, soothing gold replaced it for the most part. The off-white of the moon was on his underbelly, and lay around his claws and at the tip of his tail.

His eyes were the size of Leyvaten herself. Muscles rippled visibly as he carefully folding his wings across his back, showing that they were as dark as the pitch-black of the night sky, though the undersides were tinted to be more like the dark gray of the moon's craters. With as much care, he moved to be closer to the ground, making sure not to damage any portion of the room as he did so. It was then that Leyvaten noticed the writing there, the same writing on the tablet in her mate's chambers.

"Who... who are you?" She whispered, almost reverently.

I am many things, He answered, a very clear smirk on his face at her less-than-specific inquiry. I am the connection between your duelist and his deck. I am his soul creature. But most importantly, I am who he will soon call upon when he realizes his powers as the Speaker of the Cards.

"What should we call you?" Stardust asked, landing with his mate in front of the dragon's impressively large maw.

You may refer to me as Evening Star Dragon.

"Are you why the ravine sometimes reacts to Jake's feelings?"

Yes. Simply put, I am the ravine. When Jake is angered, it reflects in me, and thus in the ravine; when he is calm, the ground and rivers are. When he is relaxed and happy, the earth and water heal and provide their gifts. When he is in pain...

"It reflects in you as long as he's willing to share it, and thus into the ravine, which then shakes."

And if it is severe enough, it reaches other, nearby ravines simply because of how far I reach.

Stardust frowned, "Does this mean you've been here as long as both Leyvaten and I have?"

Longer. As you know, Speakers are always there; they have existed since duel monsters were first brought into the world – and each Speaker has a creature waiting for them. You two may have made your ravines seperately long ago, but I was already here.

"Why?"

Because I knew you would come. And I knew you would eventually meet.

"How did you know?" Leyvaten asked this time, curiousity overwhelming her.

Visions during my time in stone. That is all that you need to know about my knowledge. There is business that must be attended to first.

"What is it?"

Jake will be waking far sooner than you expect. These tiles will tell you a few of his powers and abilities, many of which he has already demonstrated even though he doesn't know it. Tell him of this;but do not inform him or his friends of me.

"Why not?"

I will tell him myself soon enough. He must hear it from me, and his friends must hear it from him.

"Is... is there anything else?"

The large dragon remained silent for a time, eyeing Leyvaten carefully. She watched as his lips curled into a soft smile.

Just one more thing: congratulations. I will see you both once again soon.

With that, the creature's coloring slowly faded away into stone-gray again, as he froze in his new position. Both of the smaller dragons were slightly confused, but they agreed to discuss it later; they had to report what they found on these tablets first.

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"Did you two find anything?" Crow asked the moment they made it clear they were back in their real world bodies.

"Yes," Leyvaten said simply, still rather shocked by the discovery. "We found some more tablets in a hidden chamber beneath my room."

"You won't believe what was on them," Stardust said.

"What?"

"All of you being able to suddenly hear your decks? It wasn't because you opened your hearts; it was because Jake let you create that connection. If he didn't, you could have tried his meditation idea all you wanted; it wouldn't have done anything."

"And all of us dragons being here is because of him as well."

"We already knew that, though," Jack commented.

"Well now we know for sure. Not only did he bring us here, it used his energy to give us the bodies in the first place. It takes a certain amount of time for his body to stop providing for ours, and during that time we're stuck in the real world until he stops fueling the connection. Only then can our spirits go back and forth between the duel monster world and these bodies."

"Well that's certainly news," Bruno agreed.

Yusei stepped forward, "Did you find anything else down there?"

Stardust took a deep breath, "Yes... but we promised not to say. Jake must hear of it himself, and then he will tell you."

"Anything about why I can hear his deck? Did he allow that?"

"No, it happened naturally. Because our ravines were close enough anyway, your connection to my ravine spread wide enough to reach Leyvaten's, but it wasn't until the change of your Signer mark, with that surge of energy as Jake guessed a while back, that the addition was made."

The pro duelist nodded in understanding, turning to look upstairs towards where Jake was unconscious. "How much longer will he be out?"

"From what we hear, he should be back on his feet at least by tomorrow, two days from now at most," Leyvaten reported. "And... don't be surprised if he grows rapidly into a powerful duelist, guys. What we saw... you won't believe it until you see it yourself. Trust me on that."

The group of them nodded, before finally returning to their days. It had been surprisingly quick to get that information, but it was still very shocking. To find that dragon, and all of that stuff on the young duelist that was currently more or less in a coma upstairs.

Whatever was going to happen, it was going to be big.

They could feel it.

A/N: This was certainly easier to type up than the last chapter. It just came to my mind how to iron out the kinks, and here it is. Yeah, not my proudest chapter, with all the telling-rather-than-showing, but I like it. Kinda.

Review, please! Especially if you enjoyed it!