Chapter XLI: Uria

Atem's mind was on fire. His body was burning. Every muscle in his body ceased to hold. His jaws unclenched, his paws lost their grip, his wings crumpled against his sides. His entire body went slack. His brain struggled to comprehend the sensation, racing to come up with an explanation. His hearts thundered in his chest and his eyes threatened to roll back in his head. His lungs felt as if they'd collapsed inside of him and his body was suddenly too heavy to move. He could only see it as Bakura's tail flashed toward his beak. He watched it, unable to move, entire body struck with some form of paralysis he couldn't explain.

But the tail never made contact. Bakura screamed. He dropped Atem as if he had burned him. Atem hit the ground on his side, frozen and unmoving but for a few breaths. His eyes took in the scene without quite understanding.

Bakura was on his back legs, clawing at something clinging to his throat. Claws ripped at the air with furious whistling noises. The Hunter Dragon roared with anger, cutting at the bundle latched to its throat. Teeth were completely clamped in his flesh, blood oozing and spraying the air. Claws ripped through muscle and scale, tunneling through sinew and chords. Bakura flailed and tried to shake it. He staggered and panted, then dropped to all fours again.

His movements turned sluggish as the blood gushed harder. The thing attached to his throat pulled him to the ground. He collapsed a few moments later, his attacker clinging desperately to him. Red pooled about and spread like an uncontained ocean wave, moving toward Atem's paws where he lay there.

Realization slowly came to him. Atem blinked stupidly, taking in the black markings like flames across the dragonet's red face. He saw the blue gem on his forehead marred gray and black like smoke. He saw claws that had cracked from their egg softness, the layer splintered to reveal sharp talons.

A million images flashed through his brain.

A tall dragon, lean and not unlike him, with yellow flames across a large helm of spikes backwards facing. Tusks of hardened scale the color of blood stretched both ways formed a barrier around the sides of a gaping maw of two huge sets of teeth. Slate gray scales ran the length of its underside, and sharp diamond-cut golden eyes peered from beneath a hardened ridge of bone and scale. They stood taller, wings touching the ground where its paws made the tips, claws huge and gaping. Its chest plates were almost indistinguishable from its shoulders and wings, and it stood just tall enough to match him in height.

He felt an old, stunning ache in his flesh. His limbs were burning and his cheeks were gouged open. His side was cut open and pulsing where he'd formerly recovered from infection. His wings were scraped and bleeding. Pain made his entire body itch and scream with agony.

The dragon, downed and bleeding, slowly climbed to its paws again. It panted, staring at him, and laughed softly at his mystified expression. It flashed him a smile of two jaws, one with larger jagged teeth that curled inward toward its second mouth, the other with sharp canines twice as thick and long as the rest of its teeth. It laughed and sneered, "Did you really think you'd best me so easily, God Dragon?" and Atem had barely shoved it away a second time before it'd managed to force him to his belly. He'd panted and shaken, staring stupidly at the creature before him, and finally summoned his ice breath.

The dragon had shot forward just as he loosed the breath. It had hit the blast head on, then staggered as he opened both jaws and scrambled back. Atem had hunkered down, bleeding profusely and beaten almost senseless. He'd stared at the other male, standing there with wide eyes and so startled for a moment that neither of them noticed. It laughed and came forward, voice dancing with jovial warmth.

"Well, what a neat little trick. I've never seen a Sky Dragon use a false ice breath before," it guffawed. And then Atem had noticed it.

The muscle along its jaw began to sizzle. Scale dropped like shedding skin. Flakes of flesh fell away. Teeth plummeted from its mouths. The muscle wasted, outlining its jaw, which slowly began to rot and unhinge. The bone fell on one side, hanging impossibly from the other, and then it swayed. The skull was exposed on the same side, its eye popping and oozing blood. And then it collapsed to the ground. It was dead instantly, but the flesh continued to melt away, and the bone decayed and rapidly disappeared the longer it was exposed to air. Eventually the dragon's head was hollowed and almost nonexistent, as if the skull had been burned away.

Atem stared blankly, then scrambled for his paws. He blinked and shivered. Bakura was dead. His eyes were wide and sightless, the pupils turned to inkwells. Blood continued to creep toward his paws as Atem straightened awkwardly. He drew a pained breath into his lungs and felt as if his head might explode, stars forming behind his eyes in vibrant bursts of discoloration.

Yami had finally let go. He nudged at Bakura several times, shaking, and shoved harder. When he still didn't move, the hatchling turned to him with wide eyes. "A-are you okay?" he breathed.

Atem couldn't stop staring at his mouth. He'd thought he couldn't close his mouth properly before because his molars had come in. But it was his outer mouth. His inner one, when Atem focused on it, was clearly armed with adult teeth. Yami's canines were more pronounced like Atem's own, though not so long and sharp just yet. Covered in blood as they were, Atem almost couldn't tell one from the other, but his teeth were sharp and pulled slightly inward, serrated like Yugi's. His front claws were sharp and hooked and dangerous, thicker where they had formerly been covered by a large shattered shell of keratin.

"Don't," he spat when Yami tried to step toward him. "Just…stay there."

His son flinched and flattened himself to the ground obediently. "Father…" He was shaking, peering at him with a begging expression. "Daddy…"

He shook his head, then looked at Bakura again. Yami tried to slink forward and Atem spun on him, snarling. The hatchling froze immediately, laying his head on his paws and peering up at him as if Atem might have physically struck him. He panted and looked at his brother's broken body. Then he turned to Yami again, hearts pounding furiously.

"You…you stopped me killing him."

Yami bristled and stared at him. And then he nodded. "Yes."

"Why?" he spat. "You almost got me killed."

Yami looked up at him for a long time. He didn't respond as Atem expected him to, but instead turned away toward Bakura's corpse and nodded slowly. He didn't speak and Atem counted the seconds until he could stop shaking. He shifted his weight, bracing his muscles, and looked at his son until his eyes burned.

"Why did you stay here?"

Yami didn't speak, glancing up at him and then away.

Atem flexed his claws and breathed shakily. "Where is Yugi? Timaeus?"

His son looked up. "They're by the river."

"How far down?"

"Closer to the nest, near your sunbathing spot."

Atem stiffened his muscles to keep from fleeing. "Find them."

"Atem, I—"

"Don't," he snapped. "Don't argue. Just… Go find them."

Yami hesitated a moment, then got to his paws and turned and fled. Atem watched him until he couldn't any longer. And then he shook himself out. His entire body was shaking by the time he recovered his senses enough to dispel the fear trapped in his muscles. He looked around and tucked his wings into his sides. And then he stretched his legs to lick the blood and dirt away. He groomed his side and then he straightened again.

Yugi crashed through the undergrowth, skidded to a stop, and then rushed over to him. Atem barely had a moment to think before the Gandora sniffed at every inch of his body and began licking at the numerous wounds across his flesh. He groomed his cheek with stubborn persistence and nuzzled his shoulder even as he cleaned it.

"What happened? What…?" Yugi looked over. "You killed Bakura?"

"Yami," he grunted. Yugi whipped around to stare at him. "Yami is…a Uria."

"A Uria?" he repeated. And then he looked back to Bakura and considered his throat. "He does have two mouths. I didn't even realize he really had two mouths. I thought…"

Atem shivered. "What did he tell you?"

"That you'd been hurt and you were here." Yugi turned to him and bristled. "Why didn't you call for one of us? I would have come running. You know that!"

"I thought Yami would find you. But he…hid there, in that bush, and waited until—I can't be near him right now," Atem blurted, snarling and stepping away. "I need a—just…tell Timaeus I'm okay and take care of Yami for a little while, all right? I can't…"

Yugi opened his mouth to object, but Atem had taken off before he could blink. The Gandora watched him go, glancing over at Bakura's broken body. He looked…different, harder somehow, as if his scales had been reinforced. Yugi didn't know what to consider them, just that they seemed sturdier somehow. He blinked at the various scrapes Atem had inflicted, the wounds he'd managed to form, and then the place Yami had bled him from the jugular. He looked at the pool of blood there and stared down at the puddles of Atem's, hearts tightening.

Yugi turned as he heard paws in the undergrowth. His head snapped around and he blinked stupidly as he saw Timaeus and Yami coming forward. The Wind Dragon was far ahead and Yami was skulking forward, creeping as if he expected to be yelled at. Yugi considered him, then the clearing, and finally glanced in the direction Atem had gone. When he turned back, Yami had flattened himself to his belly and lay with his paws over his face.

"Little flame," he whispered, hearts clenching as he went over to nuzzle his side. "It's okay. Atem just needs time."

"He's so scared of me."

Yugi wanted to deny it, but he doubted he could. Atem had always been afraid of Yami, though now he'd truly fled. Atem had never fled before, and what point was there in attempting to deny it? Yami would know he was lying. He would know and he'd be even further upset, and then what could Yugi do for him after? He couldn't deny Atem had fled and even snarled at Yami to find them, as if he'd wanted more space than he could articulate. Yugi didn't know what comfort he could offer in light of that.

Was there anything he could say to even slightly comfort him?

He exhaled slowly and nuzzled him, considered Timaeus in his peripheral, and sighed softly. Maybe the teal male could help him somehow now. Yami might be more receptive if Timaeus were the one to try to comfort him.

The Wind Dragon was staring straight at Bakura. "I'm not sad to see him dead. Good on Atem for finally finishing him off. I'd rather I was here to see, but I guess it's just good all around." He turned to Yugi. "Where is he?"

"He's…in shock, I think," Yugi said, deciding not to correct him. He looked over. "He said he needs time."

"I see…" Timaeus looked skeptical but didn't argue. He smirked after a moment and shook his head, then turned to Yami. "What do you say we go back to the den now? We'll tell stories and play until I pass out."

Yami looked over, at first with misery written across his features and then warmth. He sighed, got up, and nodded. "Okay," he agreed halfheartedly.

"Where is he?"

Yami looked up from his spot between Timaeus's cheek and forelimb. "Please don't go after him," he whispered miserably, voice cracked with despair. "He really just needs some time to himself right now."

"But he's alone and he's wounded," Yugi snapped, fighting the impulse to chomp his teeth. He bristled, glaring and growling softly, and lashed his tail impatiently. His eyes shot from Yami to Timaeus and back as he flexed his claws. "I don't want him to be alone and hurt like that. I didn't get to clean them before he…left."

"He's okay," Yami said solemnly. "I would have told you if he wasn't. Please, just… He needs time. He's really shaken up and scared right now, Yugi."

"Why? Why is he scared?" he spat. "Bakura is dead. Bakura is the one I would have worried about the most when he found out about you. Malik is just…there. Seto wouldn't hurt a hatchling as an adult. He wouldn't hurt you."

Yami shook his head. "He's not afraid of them."

"Then what is he so…?" Yugi faltered. "What is there to be afraid of? Jaden hasn't found out yet. No one is hunting us yet. Why is he afraid?"

Yami stayed quiet for a long time. And then he looked at Timaeus and back, blinking and shifting his weight. "He's afraid of me," he finally whispered. "He's afraid of me because I killed Bakura."

"You did it to save him. Why would he fear you so much?"

Yami looked up at him again after a moment, studying his face. "I… He needs to tell you," he said weakly. "I shouldn't be the one to tell you. He needs to be the one to explain."

"Yami…"

"I can't do it. He has to." Yami pulled out of his nestled position and came forward to see him. He took a seat and watched him, studying. "He's not…upset with me, if you're worried about that. He's just…really scared. I…I reminded him of something he'd forgotten before."

Yugi shook his head, flustered. "What is there to—what? He said you're a Uria. Is that what this is about? What in Paradise is a Uria?" he snapped, unable to keep his voice from rising. Timaeus blinked his eye open and looked over in confusion, startled by his desperate tone. "Is that what this is about? Yami—"

"Uria? The Lord of Searing Flames?" Timaeus said, raising his head. He shifted his weight and stretched his paws. "What does a Uria have to do with anything?"

"You know what it is?" Yugi asked, turning to him. "You know what one is?"

"It's a bipedal dragon with front paws fused with its wings. It's known to be the most powerful Fire Dragon in existence, with the ability to absorb almost every single magic there is. Wind doesn't daunt it, water just makes it slippery, fire empowers it, lightning just makes its wings crackle, and earth makes it dusty." Timaeus tilted his head. "It can't use all the magic in question, but it absorbs them as if they're nothing. They absorb it, especially fire. Any fire one is exposed to just empowers it. I've heard they can take a blue or black or even white flame and never slow down. But they're so rare they're basically extinct. Until you just mentioned them, I forgot they even existed."

Yugi frowned. "So, then…are they hybrids?"

"No. They're just Fire Dragons. They're pure-blooded Fire Dragons. But they're…the most adaptable species there is. They put every other species of Fire Dragon to shame. They've spread so far around the world they can survive any region, even the northern where Yusei exists. They're basically…the embodiment of fire, Yugi. That's why they're called the Lords of Searing Flames."

Yugi looked over and considered Yami for a long time. "And that's what you are?" He laughed after a moment, voice breaking. "But you're not a pure-blooded Fire Dragon. You're…more Wind than Fire. You're…"

Timaeus blinked and looked over, then snorted. "I'm sorry, what? Did you just say Yami is a Uria?" he laughed.

Yugi glanced at him in bewilderment. "You don't think so?"

Timaeus laughed sharply. "What? No! How in the world would he be?"

Yugi blinked. "I've never seen one. Have you?"

"As I said, they're basically extinct. I've never had the honor of meeting one," the Wind Dragon continued lazily. He tilted his head and smiled. "But Yami? There's no way he's one. You know he's not pure Fire Dragon and he certainly doesn't have only two legs and paws in his wings."

The Gandora nodded slightly and looked away. "I…I've never seen one and I don't know what they look like. I don't know what their temperaments are. I don't know how they act. You don't have all the information, either, Timaeus. I…" He blinked and shook his head. "Atem said he was a Uria. Frankly, if Atem believes he is, then I agree. I have no reason to doubt anything he says. And he's met far more species than you and I likely ever will."

Timaeus blinked stupidly, then sighed. "Oh. Oh, yes. I remember when Atem met a Uria. It was the one and only time he ever crossed paths with one."

"I'm assuming it didn't take no for an answer."

The Wind Dragon shook his head. "To put it mildly."

Yugi hesitated. "What happened?"

Timaeus blinked, laying his chin on his paws. "He was scared, and he lashed out."

Yugi went to question him, and then froze. He meant when Atem took his eye—the one and only time Atem had been so scared he'd lost control and lashed out when Timaeus went to visit him. He'd lashed out with his tail, so panicked he'd failed to aim, and then he'd caught him in the eye. He'd nursed him back to health but Atem had never forgiven himself, even if Timaeus had.

"Oh."

Yami looked miserably over his shoulder at Timaeus and then turned back to Yugi. "He's settled for the night. He's asleep."

Timaeus blinked and looked over. "I'm glad he has you. You're almost the ultimate little guardian dragon," he teased, though there was a more serious note to his words. He seemed relieved, warm and happy. "He ever forgets where he's going and there you are with directions."

Yami laughed despite himself, relaxing visibly and tilting his head. "He deserves the support," he said softly. He turned to Yugi. "He's asleep for right now. Just…give him a couple of days, okay? He needs them."

Yugi didn't have to look at Timaeus's eye for the reminder. He nodded and lay down, sighing. "Okay," he whispered. "Yeah, I can give him a couple of days."

Timaeus had the most violent dreams that night. Yami had never experienced nightmares in the Wind Dragon's head before. When he slept, he usually dreamed of his clutch or Atem when he was younger. He even dreamed of Yugi sometimes, though mostly in passing. He dreamed of Yami often enough, though it was usually just them playing. Once or twice he'd dreamed of Yami telling him he loved him, of their discussion before about the possibility of being mates when he was older. He dreamed mostly of Yami coming running that day to say hi to him even though his parents had warned him away. He was happiest with the latter two memories, and he was usually the brightest spot when it came to dreams, so Yami traversed his more often.

Now they were violent and bloody.

Atem was bleeding, breathing ragged. His face was covered in scratches, dripping blood. One eye was almost swollen shut from constant abuse and scratches. His formerly wounded side was torn open, oozing blood. His elbows were soaked and his front left shoulder was open to the bone. He was shaking and staring at a corpse nearby. He'd puked at some point, because bile covered his front paws. One of his wings drooped at his side as if it were broken, with ragged cuts along the membrane connecting it to his flank. His spine was missing several scales where he'd elongated them to strike at an opponent.

"Atem?" Timaeus breathed, racing forward. "Oh gods, Atem!"

He stepped too close. The God Dragon spun on him, snarling with anger and pain. His tail shot forward so quickly Timaeus couldn't think straight or even move.

Yami flinched away from the screaming that erupted immediately after. He crept around Timaeus and toward Atem. The God Dragon in Timaeus's memory did not respond to him, of course. Atem shivered and trembled and panted. He puked again, stared at the Knight Dragon until he finally recognized him, and then hurried forward in a panic.

He licked his face, trying desperately to stifle the bleeding. He hurried off and got some fur from a carcass he'd eaten from earlier. He tore it off and hurried back over, using the bundle to soak up the majority of the blood. When Timaeus stopped screaming, unconscious, Atem lay there with him and groomed his face until the bleeding stopped. He lay there with him until Timaeus woke, groaning and complaining of the pain in the side of his face.

Yami had settled on the other side of him, nestled there and wishing he'd wake sooner. It was useless, he knew, but between the fear and the pain he felt radiating from them both, Yami couldn't help it.

"You should really choose dreams that don't involve such traumatic memories," Timaeus's voice teased. Yami blinked and raised his head. The dream had changed. Atem was playing in the water with Yugi on the bank, laughing at him as he splashed about like a hatchling. Timaeus lay beside him still, paws crossed and eyes glued on him. "What are you doing here, Yami?"

He hesitated, then blinked at him. "Did you know in your dreams you have both eyes?" he blurted before he could stop himself.

Timaeus snorted. "Yeah. That's what happens when you lose a limb, too. If I'd lost my paw when your father struck, I'd still dream I had four."

Yami tilted his head. "Your eyes are nice."

"Thanks," he laughed, shaking his head. "What are you doing here?"

He faltered and glanced at Atem and Yugi again. "I…I didn't want to have a nightmare, so I thought…but I didn't consider you'd be thinking of… I guess it was stupid not to realize you'd…" He faltered and looked over. "You just remembered something traumatic and here I was, thinking for some reason you wouldn't dream of it."

Timaeus nudged his shoulder and flexed his claws lazily. "You can't escape your memories, or your nightmares all the time, Yami. It's good to have them, even if they hurt." He pulled his paws to his chest and got up after a moment. Atem kept splashing about. Yugi was still laughing, grinning as if the world had just been offered him. "Atem and Yugi wouldn't be half the dragons they are without the pain in their pasts. You can't ignore it in favor of other things. Replacing memories with happier ones is sometimes good, but you should never just dismiss the worst things that happen. They shape you more than the good."

Yami frowned. "I don't like nightmares."

"No one does—except maybe Bakura. He was a monster, anyways." Timaeus looked over. "I'm glad Atem finally killed him. He should have done it a long time ago."

"He didn't," Yami whispered, shaking his head. "I did. That's why Atem got so freaked out. Because I killed Bakura and he… H-he remembered when the Uria challenged him before."

Timaeus blinked. "That…explains a lot."

"I didn't know he was suppressing something like that, but he was so scared of Bakura getting to me that he was almost willing to kill himself and Bakura just to make sure he didn't. He was trying to aim for his head to decapitate him but he would have cut his own jugular alongside Bakura's if he didn't stop. I…I stopped him, but I…I scared him so badly, Timaeus. I don't know if he'll ever look at me the same."

"Maybe not, but that might not be a bad thing, Yami. He worries so much about you and Yugi as it is. He doesn't always show it, but he does. Maybe knowing that you're a Uria might help him see things differently. Maybe killing Bakura and protecting him instead might make him understand he's not alone in the matter."

Yami looked away. "I hurt him when I did it. I didn't realize if I… I… I cut his ability off for a moment, and I nearly got him killed for it. I didn't realize he was so completely tied to it like that. I always knew it was powerful, but I didn't realize…" He paused. "I guess I didn't really have any way of knowing that, but he… He was so shocked that he froze. His entire body went limp when I did it."

"Well, now you know never to do it again." Timaeus glanced at him, curious, but did not question him as Yami expected. "Now you know never to do anything like that ever again."

Yami blinked. "I guess."

"No," Timaeus said more firmly, "you know. There's no guesswork involved anymore, Yami."

"You make it sound so simple."

"Some things have to be so simple."

Yami searched his face for a moment. "Can they?"

"Yes. There are a lot of simple rules to follow in life." Timaeus smiled and shook his head. "You eat when you're hungry, you drink when you're thirsty, you sleep when you're tired. You listen to your parents, you love your parents, you accept their faults. You admit your wrongs, you accept your mistakes, and you grow from both. You bounce back from the bad things, and accept them with the good. If you overstep, you apologize and do not repeat your mistakes. And, when it comes to choices in life, you ask yourself whether I would do it and you're golden."

Yami laughed and shook his head, grinning. "I don't think so."

"I'm a wealth of good advice. You take that back." Timaeus licked his forehead and nuzzled his cheek, taking a seat. "Honestly, always listen to Atem and Yugi. They've been through a lot more than you can imagine and I know you'll gain more wisdom from them than anyone else."

He nodded. "I know." He paused and looked over. The two of them were still playing and bouncing about now. Yugi was running around, tapping Atem and darting away and back. Atem took aim, pouncing and knocking him over so that they rolled about.