His ass skid along the unfinished wooden seat and his shoulder hit the beam that curved upwards over their heads, and he winced. A-At least this wagon was covered…
But gods, the choking scent of the horses were making him ill.
He had a window at his elbow, the ominous black bars cutting the beautiful view of his hometown, whizzing by in a blur, passing the pub he wanted to hang out at more, to maybe meet a nice girl, maybe go on a few adventures to win some gold so they could build a house, and maybe adopt a dog.
They passed the blocks of residential buildings, where people had already gone to bed, leaving the streets empty, the street lamps leaving yellow afterimages in Yami's eyes.
His cheeks were wet, and his face was burning white-hot.
Every time he blinked, he was getting further away from everything he knew.
Horse hooves thundered over a bridge, and shouts from the watchmen rang overhead, and the rumbling of the barrier was raised.
Home was now behind him.
Flat expanses of nothing laid out before him in the scene outside his window, and Yami almost wanted to sleep…to never wake up, but he told himself to stay sharp. This was how he'd find his way back home–if ever.
It was getting darker and darker.
Yami kept his eyes nailed out the window but to his rising dismay, it soon became too dark to see anything, so he sat with his thoughts, while the guard beside him dozed off and even snored, startling him for a moment.
Then he briefly considered jumping out of the wagon.
But that wouldn't accomplish anything.
They could easily recapture him in the dark.
Letting out a stressed sigh, Yami folded his hands together and gripped himself, his palms damp and clammy.
Well, since there was nothing to see out his window, did he want to try falling asleep? He was exhausted from the stress, and now that the stressful event was happening to him, it was easier to accept that this was his situation.
No. I'll stay awake, Yami growled to himself as he glared at the darkness outside his bar-covered window. He glanced up as far as he could see and noticed a spray of stars twinkling up overhead, and his eyes burned with fiery tears that seemed to come suddenly.
Lowering his head and gritting his teeth, Yami felt the hot wetness dot the tops of his clenched fists.
The nausea from earlier had faded into a dull headache pounding behind his ears.
That feeling, combined with the cold night air washing over his face, and the sound of rhythmic clopping of the horses' hooves lulled him into a light sleep.
He woke up with a rough jolt when the wagon came to such a hard stop, he fell forward out of his seat and hit his forehead and elbows on the wooden panel in front.
Wincing and struggling back into his seat, Yami ignored the guard snickering at him.
He'd scraped his elbows on the unfinished wood and the wound was stinging. Great.
There might be a matching red scrape on his forehead too. Wonderful.
Well, it soon wouldn't matter anyway.
He was grabbed by the arm and pushed out of the wagon. Struggling to gather his bearings, Yami winced at the early morning sun peeking out from over the jagged mountain horizon, blinding him for a second before his eyes refocused…on a giant, dark hole carved into the cliff, where one, winding stone bridge led up to the entrance.
There was a hellish drop on either side of this path, with no protection from the steep cervices to the rocky depths below.
If he slipped while crossing this rocky incline…well, he was dying early.
Ah, the walk of doom into the hole of doom, Yami straightened his shoulders back and dusted his shirt off, hating how bits of hay and dirt had gotten on him from his fall.
"Go. We'll watch you," the guard perched behind the horses commanded, hopping off the seat to set a pan of water down for the steed to drink. "No funny business. If you leap off the edge, we'll go back into town and grab your brother, who we know looks exactly like you."
Yami felt a searing pang of anger cut through his chest, but he maintained his dignity in silence and turned to walk up the winding path towards the towering cave.
Yes, they would try to hurt Yugi, and then Grandpa by extension. He knew how this worked.
They're already hurt, Yami growled to himself as he set off on the steep climb, letting anger be his main guide.
A stray rock was in his way, so he kicked it off the edge and watched it tumble down into the depths below and shatter after bouncing against the sides of the cliff.
"Keep going!" The guard behind him called, and Yami ignored them, slowly walking ahead, telling himself not to burst into tears again. He needed his eyes to see.
The sun was peeking out over the edge of the mountain top, now searing his shoulders.
The air was thin.
He was huffing with each step and the cave opening which had looked close before, was actually quite a trek.
A threatening, winged shadow passed overhead, blocking out the sun entirely, and Yami froze.
Large wings with sharp tips. A dark, wide body, and a snake-like tail trailing after it….
Yami wrenched his head upwards and gaped at the giant black dragon with red eyes soaring overhead, and he hiccuped in fear.
A legendary ….r-red eyes…b-black dragon…!
He'd only ever seen drawings and stories of these behemoths!
The creature circled back around and opened its mouth, slowly building a blast of red electricity in its jaws, clearly aiming for him!
Yami let out a frightened shout, diving for the nearest boulder as close to the edge as he dared, and knowing it wouldn't do anything to cover him.
He was exposed on this tiny pathway.
He could hear the guards shouting in panic and the horses spooking, whinnying and over the sounds of another piercing shriek that made his hair stand on end.
Daring to peek over the edge of the small rock, Yami watched in breathless horror as a second dragon with a shimmering white body came diving at the black one and tackled it out of the sky with a vicious bite to its neck, causing the ball of red lightning to go shooting off into the cliffside…too close to the pathway he was standing on.
The force of the black dragon's blast shook the ground underneath Yami's feet, and he threw an anxious look at the dark cave behind him, understanding that he was going to be safer inside while the dragons battled it out.
Not daring to look behind him anymore, Yami sprinted up the rocky path, leaping over large pits in the ground and avoiding the slippery patches of pebbles.
Dust was raining down on him, making his eyes sting and his throat dry. He coughed and covered his mouth with his elbow, finally reaching the cave's edge for safety.
He gawked at the spectacle above.
The two dragons were in a full-on fight, clawing, whipping their tails at each other and doing artful dives and magnificent swooping turns, both baring claws and teeth, shooting blasts of white and red electricity that collided so violently in the air, it made his skin prickle.
Then, Yami saw a boulder slide off the side of the path and go tumbling down off the edge.
Ah. This was how the path became this way.
It might've been a proper path at some point, but a giant shard of rock crashing down sheared another piece off the already-thin bridge, and another piece of the cliff landed right in the middle of the rocky bridge, causing a deep, reverberating crack.
Horrified, Yami shrank further back into the cave and watched his only escape route go crumbling down into the abyss.
A sheet of dust rose in front of his face, covering the entire cave's opening. Yami dove behind a pointed rock right by the edge, feeling helpless as he held his breath until the violent earthquake stopped.
His ears were ringing and he was numb with fear.
He'd almost died from that minor ordeal of entering the cave.
Why was he even bothering to stay alive at this point?
Well, maybe it was safe to leap off the edge now that the guards were gone.
No. I can't throw my life away like that when I still have a chance to escape… Yami frowned in determination and peeked behind him, seeing more darkness that led into nowhere.
Yeah he wasn't going in there with no reason to.
He'd sit here for a bit and catch his breath, or starve.
The edge was always an option too.
Author's note:
Σ(°ロ°)