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Chapter 2
Yugi limped out into the night, darkness failing to hide the glint of blood that gushed like tears from various gashes through his torn clothing. At least he didn't have to wear chains anymore.
After finding Mokuba a week ago, he had found out that he was to serve as a simple slave who did menial labor. Thankfully, he didn't have to fight in the Arena, as it was often referred too.
But soon, he realized that dusting and cleaning were not his only duties.
Often times, guild members would 'take out their frustration' with him. This often translated into torture. Nothing new, of course. Nothing he hadn't done before. But he did admit to himself that it he had never been so beaten within an inch of his life so repeatedly. He was lucky he healed quickly, otherwise he was sure to have died the second day.
It was now, at one o'clock in the morning, that he was sent out to get groceries. He had just come from a session with a woman called Tea, who loved whips and knives.
Obviously, there were no stores open at this hour, but if he came back empty handed he would probably die. He couldn't just run away either. Mokuba had made that clear. They would find him.
Running wasn't an option.
He would have to steal.
Yugi really hated stealing. In fact, he hated anything that even hinted at dishonesty.
Not like he had a choice anyway. With a sigh, he skillfully climbed up to the rooftops where it was easier to move around without being spotted. The darkness swirled, thick and soupy. Moonlight slivered through the overcast night sky, randomly alighting parts of the shadows with silver coldness.
Yugi ran, undistinguishable from shadows. Just as he was about to turn towards the grocery store where his salvation from a beating lay, the clouds shifted once more, letting a beam of moonlight fall onto a lone figure sitting on a chimney not so far away from him.
Yugi froze, staring. His awareness of his surroundings skyrocketed. The wind ruffled his hair softly, caressing his cheek. Eyes honing to near perfection, amethyst gazed upon the figure who remained as a black silhouette. The seated figure had yet to notice him- that was clear. The man, for Yugi assumed he was one, was sitting facing away from him.
What caught Yugi's eyes was the similar shape of their hair. It resembled his own star shaped mane, though he had a hard time telling in the darkness.
The silence of the night was shattered however when three shrouded figures suddenly pounced from the enveloping darkness, attacking the seated figure. In a split-second, a fight ensued.
Yugi watched in fascination as the seated figure seemed to disappear from sight as he fought his three opponents. He was faster than a cobra, and yet as strong and quiet as a black panther. He moved with grace. He was deadly.
His three opponents fell, but Yugi sensed something off. As the dark figure resumed his seated position, Yugi thought fast, or rather, he didn't think at all.
Yugi leapt into action. Sprinting around, he caught the glint of a knife in the dark. Just as Yugi thought.
Back tracking so that he was now facing the seated man, Yugi pushed his legs up and jumped across from one roof to another with incredible speed.
Yugi looked over at the seated figure, who he could now see clearly. They looked very much alike, to his surprise. He had sharp, calculating crimson eyes that were at the moment currently lost in thought. Handsomely cut features where crowned with black, crimson, and blond streaks of hair that so resembled Yugi's that it made him gasp.
However, Yugi's attention was drawn back to the attacker behind the handsome man. The man would be too late. He would not have enough time to defend himself.
He watched as crimson eyes widened in that split second when he realized that someone was behind him. He was turning ever so slowly, so slowly…
Yugi flew.
Kicking the arching knife out of the man's hand, Yugi skillfully caught it as it spun in the air before spinning through the air so that he was facing the attacker. Yughi growled, and the man ran, retreating in pure fear.
Yugi sighed, before tossing the blade up into the air and catching it with practiced, nimble fingers. He had no use for it, but the blade was made well. If he brought it back to Birch, he would surely be punished.
He threw it at the retreating figure of the assassin-want-to-be. The hilt struck him flat in the head, not killing him, but merely knocking him out. Every movement was starting to tax him now as his wounds spewed blood in protest. Pain tore at him, making him clench a fist.
Well, now Yugi had groceries to steal.
Turning around, he came face to face with keen crimson eyes.
The seated man! The guy he had just saved! How could he be so stupid as to forget him!
The crimson eyes glimmered with something that put Yugi on guard. He had never seen such a gaze directed towards him before. It was a puzzle, a maze. He did not know what it meant.
What he did know was he had to get away from this man. And fast.
Springing into action, he whirled around and tore across the rooftops. His heart pounded. Pain shrieked.
The man was in front of him in the blink of an eye. There was no way to run. He could easily be blocked if he simply went left or right. Yugi would have to just stop and face him.
Yugi blinked at those ruby eyes as he continued to run straight at the man. There was only one way out.
Using the powerful muscle that coiled up from years of suffering in his thighs, Yugi found himself flying once more.
Over the man.
When he landed on the rooftops behind him, he couldn't help but grunt in agony. His wounds were screaming at him, roaring like dying titans that had born the world for too long. The darkness swallowed him.
Somehow, he managed to get the groceries he needed and to get back to the guild before dawn. Tea however didn't think he had done so in a timely fashion, and she made him aware of it throughout the morning in a small room where his screams of anguish couldn't be heard by anyone else.
By the time he was sweeping out the Hall, which was the name for the large opening room that greeted whoever dared enter the guild, the sun was setting into a hot evening. Blood ran down his brow along with sweat from exhaustion. Pain seared through his entire body whenever he braved a step or took a breath to satisfy his burning lungs.
Mai, the bartender, raised an eyebrow and nodded at his purple and black dappled form often splattered with the dark stains of long swathes of blood.
"Tea?" she inquired. Yugi merely nodded his head.
Mai harrumphed. Yugi liked Mai. She was one of the few people who was actually kind to him, if not treating him like a piece of trash was kindness. Anyway, she was better than anyone else in the large band of assassins.
Who was the leader of Birch, Yugi had no clue. He only heard guild members refer to "The Boss" and "The King" several times before. Yugi wasn't sure he wanted to meet this "King of Assassins'" but he at least wanted to know it was. Whoever he was, he must be incredibly talented in order to have gained such a title.
His thoughts turned to the man he had encountered the night previously. Who was that man? He was shrouded in mystery and questions. Yugi just hoped it wasn't someone he would seek him out later. He had seen him quite clearly in the moonlight, and Yugi didn't want to be recognized by anyone.
At the moment, everyone else's attention was gathered around the Arena. Ushio, an especially tall and brawny assassin had bought a new slave, and was proving that he could beat every other slave in the guild. Bets tumbled like stones in an avalanche. Shouting echoed as numerous as broken promises.
It was then that the doors to the guild swung open, and the crowd of assassins all fell silent when a man walked into the Hall.
Yugi looked up, his brutally tortured body becoming rigid at the sight.
It was him, the man from the night before.
It was him.
...cliffhanger! Review!