Yami moaned in his sleep as his eyes started to open slowly… Well "open" was easier said than done cause his eyelids were feeling as if being sealed with wax. He couldn't open them. Thankfully Yami was used to the hangovers so he slowly started opening his eyes and immediately he felt the strong pain in his skull.

"Hmmmphh…" he moaned holding his head with his hand

He now wished he hadn't drunk that much…honestly the previous night…he had even forgotten how much he had drunk… Maybe two bottles of absinthe…or was it two and a half? Had he mixed it up with anything else? His mind was corrupted by thoughts last night so he wasn't even focused on what he had been drinking… He groaned again and finally managed to sit up on the edge of his bed, still holding his head with his hands… His stomach was also kind of a mess and also it was growling hungrily. He had forgotten when was the last time he ate something… Perhaps it was two or three days ago… In the meantime he was only drinking. He sighed again as he still felt his head spinning. He was also remembering his dream… It was the first time that he actually had a dream, so alive as that one, while he was so drunk…

"That Pharaoh…that demon…there is no doubt…" he thought

He then noticed something else… The pain in his stomach wound had reduced incredibly… With one swift move he tore the bandages around his stomach and saw…his wound…his wound had almost…

"It's almost healed…" he thought

He looked down at himself, almost in disgust. His transformation was coming closer and closer… It was as if every single moment that passed the monster inside him was gaining power…no…the monster was he himself… It was part of him…it was his own nature… He now was sure and he was no longer in denial… He was now sure that he was slowly and methodically heading towards his transformation…

"That doesn't make me better than the werewolves I am hunting at times…" he thought bitterly, "No…it makes me even worse…"

He growled in pain as he finally stood up and walked to the small table close to his bed. He took his flask and took a sip from it so the alcohol would help his hangover.

"Later I'll have to go for a walk…I am in really bad shape…" he thought

He then took bandages that were close and wrapped his wound around his waist again. He then put his shirt on and waistcoat and after that he put his boots on. Right then Joey entered the room in a hurry and he was really loud when he opened the door and said.

"An emergency!"

"Uuungghh!" Yami growled in pain grabbing his head with both hands that was throbbing painfully.

He glared at Joey a little.

"Dammit all, Joey!" he said irritated

Joey's mouth formed an "oh" but nevertheless he wasn't very…guilty of what he did

"Well we have an emergency! Pull it together and listen!"

"Ugh!" he growled in pain again, "Fine. I get it. Keep it lower! I am not deaf"

"Well you need to pull it together and again it wasn't my fault you drank half of Mai's cava! Oh and…by the way she says you will pay for those!"

Yami rolled his eyes and took another sip from his flask.

"The facts Joey! Why are we so alarmed anyway?"

"Well…dead chicken"

Yami turned around slowly and looked at him or rather glared at him with a look that was saying "you gotta be kidding me!".

"Seriously?" he finally said, "Dead chicken…? That's why you came here like this?"

It appeared that he was trying really hard to keep his tamper…

"That didn't sound good right…? Well of course there is nothing strange with dead poultry…in this cold weather…or with the foxes around or…well…food that should be…n-not suitable but…"

"To the point, Joey!" Yami said interrupting his monologue

He had started to lose his temper.

"Right! Well the point is that…someone had been killing them…well…a human someone…"

"Big deal… Thieves or some child that wanted to have fun! So what?"

"Nonononono…nothing like that! A woman says that she saw a human figure jumping over the fences like a monkey the very least. It was dark and she only saw a shadow but she said that it was a figure dressed in a trench coat or something…"

Yami's eyes opened in surprise at the last piece of information. He never actually remembered himself being a sleep walker or something, especially when his sleep was "stuffed" in alcohol… However his mind couldn't suspect any other person that could possibly jump so high and so easily and soundlessly… He suddenly seemed to have forgotten about his hangover and he grabbed his trench coat walking out while saying.

"Let's go Joey!"

"But…but you are not fine yet…" Joey protested from his spot

"You didn't want me to come but you told me about it? Move on!" Yami's voice was heard from the hallway, as he hadn't stopped walking

Joey had no other choice but follow him… Later on they were both at the woman's house… There were indeed many chicken dead…and some of them missing as they heard. Yami checked the ground and the place around…

"Any luck Yami?" Joey approached him and asked.

"None" Yami growled in frustration and stood up, "And the damn snow must have erased the traces…"

His fists clenched.

"And now I will never know…" he thought

Joey's lips turned into a grin.

"Not all of them! I found something"

He leaded Yami to the other side of the fence and a few meters away… There was a trace on the snow…a pair of footsteps… It was half-covered by the snow but they were still recognizable… Yami kneeled down to observe them better… He could see the shape of it… The shoe…

"It appears it was a human after all…" Joey said

"Yes…" Yami replied in deep thought

…The shoe…it wasn't his…!

"But if it wasn't me…" he said and stood up, "…Then who…?"

One or two hours later…Tea was walking outside in the forest again… She was wearing her usual red cape and her warm attire… Gladly most of her strength had come back… She was feeling better now, especially with the crumble of the snow under her feet… She liked the snow… Now small and soft snowflakes had started to fall again making everything look as if through a white curtain… The air was whispering softly from the far away mountains…She walked at the peaceful, gray-white morning when she heard the sound of the wooden pole whipping on a tree. She followed the sound and saw Yami, hitting with a wooden pole that would resemble a sword, a tree bole. He sometimes pulled back, did some complicated move and then stroke again… She approached him.

"What are you doing?"

Yami stopped at the sound of her voice. He turned around and looked at her. He smiled faintly seeing some color had returned to her face and that now she looked healthy as the first time he met her. Cold had again painted her face with a light blush…

"I am practicing" he replied, "Exercise is good for the hangover…also I need to keep in shape after these days I spent in bed…"

"I see…"

She approached him with a teasing smile.

"Don't tell me you are hot again like the previous time you were half-naked!"

"I am" he replied, "However I want to be prepared for an attack"

"Why is that?"

"You heard about the chicken-killer didn't you? It appears he has some powers that could resemble mine… I mean he jumped over a fence…"

"I see…"

She approached him and smiled to him taking her hood off.

"Let me practice with you"

"Huh?"

"I know how to fight with a sword…and I need practice too. I guess you could teach me some things and I could teach you…"

Yami looked at her and he fought back a smirk. He didn't expect that she could teach him something on fighting than he already did know but he had to confess that he was tempted to test her in her skills. He picked up another "wooden sword" and threw it to her. She caught him in the air. He shook his head in approval.

"Not bad" he commented.

"Are you sure you are in the condition to fight?" she asked him

"Well I could say the same thing to you" and what he replied made her smile

He got hold of his own improvised sword and she did the same.

"Don't go easy on me!" she told him

"Do you want to die?" he asked with a smirk

She blinked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well…as a matter of fact you don't ask of a man that has been hunting down and killing real monsters five times his size for years and in his free time training for that, not to hold back…"

She opened her mouth to answer but she realized that she had no answer to that!

"Emm…correct!" she concluded in a bit dummy way, "Let's put rules…"

Yami couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yes…let's…"

After a little they were both standing opposing each other. Tea had removed her cape so it wouldn't get in her feet. Snow kept falling around softly…

"Can you please repeat me the rules?" she said

"Of course. No fatal hits…only arms and legs. No vital spots. No head, no neck, no stomach. You can hit me wherever you want"

"That's not fair for you"

"These are my rules"

She smirked.

"Fine! I am ready!"

Yami smirked too finding it really amusing to see her act like an enthusiastic child.

"Ladies first!" he said

Tea grinned playfully before attacking. She was faster than he had expected and he found that quite amusing. He blocked her hit easily but still she was quite good with the sword, he noticed. Tea twirled around herself and tried to achieve another hit from above this time. Yami blocked it again with a smirk. He saw some childish and playful irritation in her eyes because he could block her that easily, so he decided to give her a small advantage so he left on purpose a small open spot for her to hit. She indeed saw it and attacked him there…only to be blocked again. Yami jumped in the air making a perfect rotation and landing to his feet behind her to attack her. She blocked it just in time and twirled around again to face him. Their wooden "swords" kept hitting each other. They blocked each other's hit and then they jumped back. Tea was panting not too heavily but not lightly either…Yami was fine.

"Not bad" he told her with a smirk

She smiled while trying to catch her breath, never letting go of her sword though

"Thanks… You too…" she said between the panting

He smirked and they ran against each other again. As they continued fighting you could definitely tell the difference between their skill or experience… Yami was about two heads taller than her and much more muscular as expected of course however he was fast and he was easily dodging her attacks or jumping gracefully in the air performing perfect turns and rotations and he didn't seem to be tired at all as if he could control his own pulse! Tea on the other hand was moving gracefully but mostly like a dancer rather than a fighter. She knew how to use the sword and that was the only sure thing, however she didn't have the ease Yami had with it. Sometimes when she fell on the snowed ground, she rolled on her shoulder to stand again. However that was the only thing she could do. Her body was quite elastic though. Sometimes Yami was telling her:

"Use your shoulder when you roll…not your waist!"

…Or…

"Use the wrist more! There is no need to put so much strength!"

As if he was her personal instructor or something. Then, after a couple of seconds, Yami's wooden sword was found…right next to her neck.

"Dead" he whispered with a grin

"No fair! I am not dead yet!"

"If this was a real sword, I would have cut your neck" he teased her

"Well, first it is not a real sword and secondly there is still time before you can "cut my neck" as you say…"

"Then fight back!" Yami challenged her with a smirk

She giggled and then twirled around herself avoiding the wooden weapon. The wooden sword barely touched her neck. Yami smirked. If that was a real sword it might have barely scratched her neck but for sure it wouldn't have cut it. Nice move. Very nice… They fought like this for a couple of minutes and then Tea attacked as if aiming to stab him. He stepped aside and then grabbed her wrist to stop her, taking the wooden sword from her and then pointed his own wooden sword to her chest.

"Dead" he said again.

She remained there panting quite heavily looking at the wood and then at him.

"Not fair" she said panting like a stubborn child but her tone was playful, "I can still run away"

"Actually, you can't" Yami said plainly. "If you ran away towards the right, I can use that tree to push myself to you and kill you –if you were my enemy- If you ran towards the left it would be even easier for me to run and reach you since there isn't a tree for you to hide behind. If you try to turn around and run, I can jump over you and again I can kill you"

She smirked

"Oh really? How?" she provoked him

Yami simply jumped in the air more than three feet as if he was flying, he did a perfect rotation and landed on his feet almost soundlessly a couple of meters behind her.

"Like this" he said

"Alright, alright…I surrender!" she said raising her hands in a surrender way

They both laughed. Their faces were slightly flushed by the cold and the exercise. It was almost as if they were making love instead of fighting! Tea went to pick her cape and put it on again. Yami threw his wooden sword away.

"You must teach me how to fight like you"

"No one can fight like me…"

She looked at him with a playful smirk.

"Ha! So no one can fight like the great Yami the Executioner? Why is that?"

Yami was still looking away and his face was absolutely serious… He now seemed so distant all of the sudden…

"No one can fight like me…because of my nature…" he said.

His voice was low and bitter. Tea saw that and immediately regretted what she said.

"Yami…it is true that…"

"I can feel it inside me. The beast that is trying to get out. This is what I am."

"You're wrong…"

"I am not…"

He turned around to look at her. His dark crimson eyes were looking at her… They were deeper than ever.

"I am not…" he repeated in low voice.

He took his flask out and took a good sip of it.

"I know that I have less time than you think to become a monster… I can feel it inside me that I am changing…"

Tea noticed how lonely he looked or how much this must hurt… She realized that his two natures or better the two sides of his nature were completely opposing each other… Yami was a Hunter…an Executioner that hunted down monsters with almost no mercy… He was a man that had been training his entire life maybe to kill and eliminate "evil" such as monsters or other creatures that possibly were threats for humanity… However he was one of them…he was one of the monsters he was hunting down and soon enough he'd have to deal with it… She now realized that if that happened…Yami was able to…no, he definitely would…

"I want to walk a little" he interrupted her thoughts, "Are you coming?"

She nodded her head and walked after him…in silence…

As they were walking neither of the two spoke a word… Only their steps in the snow were breaking the silence…the whisper of the wind and the far away sound of the small river… The snow was still falling but it had started to stop… Tea could see his distant look and she couldn't help it anymore.

"Yami. Yami please…talk to me… Did anything happen to you?"

Yami stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at her… Her eyes were bright blue comparing to the white snow around them… He sighed a little.

"Something happened…" he answered enigmatically

She walked to him and cupped his cheek with her gloved hand.

"Tell me…please…"

Yami looked at her and sighed again. And then he talked. He told her about his dream…about the chased king…the Pharaoh that ran away…but also he told her about the monstrous nature he had…about the victims and that Silver Order. She already knew the name of it when she heard it from Seto Kaiba's mouth. He told her about the things he saw. While he was talking she was looking at him in deep thought the one moment and in fear and sadness the other. Yami finished his narration and took another sip from his flask.

"When I woke up…my wound was better… It is healing quicker. Do you see now?"

Tea looked at him and then she cupped his cheeks with her hands, stood to her tiptoes to reach him and then she placed her lips on his softly. She pulled back and looked at him with almost pleading eyes. The snow had stopped falling…

"Yami…the past is the past…please don't think like that and please do not do this to yourself… You do not deserve it…"

"I am a murderer Tea…"

"You are you…" she whispered

Yami looked at her for a little but then he pushed her down saying

"Watch out!"

And over their heads something…or rather someone passed. Barely didn't touch them. Yami jolted up right away. He could hear movements all around as if someone was running like a spider on the boles around them…teasing them. Yami drew out a dagger looking all around. Whoever it was…he was fast like a shadow!

"Hello…" a mocking voice with heavy British accent was heard.

Yami turned his head around and up and glared. Tea followed his gaze and she saw the man. He was standing on the tree on a high branch. His hair and skin were white and his eyes chocolate brown and they were shining in sadistic amusement. He seemed to be dressed like a common worker wearing a white shirt with blue stripes and gray pants and common shoes but he was also wearing a heavy black trench coat. He was grinning and he was revealing his white teeth and two sharp fangs. Not so big like a vampire but still visible…like a dog…or a wolf… The sadistic grin seemed to be frozen on his face…as if he had just won some sick game…

"You!" Yami hissed

"Yami who is he…?" she whispered

"He is something like me!" he growled, "A human body with beast's blood!"

He turned his head up glaring at the man and finished his sentence…

"…Bakura!"

The man named Bakura grinned more at the mention of his name…

"Yo…" he said

The two men remained there, motionless…looking at each other… Yami's crimson, fiery glare against Bakura's brown, cold amusement…

Ta da! Another chapter is ready! I hope you liked it! One soul here (Kassandra-21) asked me to make it last as long as possible! So I wasn't planning to put Bakura in here...but...Ta-da! The albino is here and

Why so Brittish?

Hehehehehehe! Couldn't resist! Whoever saw Bakura coming raise his/her hand!
Bakura's clothes were inspired by this one here: fs27/i/2008/139/2/8/Yami_Bakura_2_in_Colour_by_

Also Tea was thinking that Yami would deffinitely try to kill himself if he transformed... Will he actually do it? Or not? And who is Bakura? Why does he seem to have these abilities? Wait and see!
A Yami x Tea sword fighting!

I hope you liked it! Please review me!

Enjoy!