A hot, thick, sweetness rushed across his tongue and filled his stomach wonderfully, and Yami tried not to enjoy it.
After five large gulps, Yami eased off gently, raising his head to gasp for air, his vision pulsing white for a moment as the color brightened in his world once more. Dipping his head down again, he sank his fangs into the same spot, letting the blood pool thinly across his tongue for a few more seconds until he thought he felt Mokuba's hand twitch in his grasp.
Pulling away nervously, he saw Mokuba blink once and slowly turn his head to look at him, his expression eerily blank.
"Yami?"
"Oh good, you remember," Yami let out a tight sigh of relief, his chest still aching with a strange pain he recognized as grief. "You weren't dead for too long, so I don't think you'll have any amnesia."
"I'm…dead?" Mokuba frowned and turned his head up to the sky, his entire body burning with a white-hot warmth. "I don't feel dead. I feel hot."
"That's your body healing itself," Yami said shakily, trying to recall all his knowledge of the newly dead. "I have a meal saved for you too, so, sit up when you can. Then, we can rescue your brother."
"Rescue Seto? Why? Where is he? You saved him, didn't you?" Mokuba demanded, his eyes narrowing as he bolted upright too fast, and he cried out in pain. "OW! Ow, my back!"
Yami ran his hand slowly down Mokuba's back as the child bent over, gasping and heaving. He could feel the bones sticking out oddly underneath his palm, but they were slowly vanishing, moving back to their original place in a straight line.
Swallowing his fear, Yami told himself he'd done a good thing, but he couldn't help feeling guilty. If Mokuba grew to hate his new way of life, he knew who to blame.
"Wh-Where's Seto?" Mokuba gasped, his eyes watering as his back popped into place, and he sat up straighter, his throat growing drier by the second. "I need…water."
"No, you don't drink water anymore," Yami said gently, rising to his feet and walking over to the pilot's body. He picked the body up by the shoulders, dragging it over to where Mokuba was sitting, seeing the child's eyes widen fearfully.
"The sooner you drink, the saner you'll be," Yami said quietly, holding up the man's cold arm. "If you don't want to bite, you can just suck from…here." He waved the man's hand that was still sporting bite marks from his cat fangs.
"I'm not sure I wanna…drink anything right now," Mokuba said, his throat scratching terribly in protest. "I can't. That's the guy who flew us into the ground!"
"Then he'll taste even better," Yami insisted, pulling the dead man's arm closer for Mokuba's convenience. "You said you wanted revenge. Here it is."
Yami waved the corpse's arm half-heartedly again, feeling as if he was a mother bird trying to feed her reluctant baby. The arm was already getting stiff, and he saw Mokuba's eyes darken.
"Not him!" Mokuba frowned, his heart jumping wildly in his chest as he remembered the ugly face of the man standing above him, pointing the barrel of a gun down at him. "The…other guy. Did you see him, Yami? He shot me in the—right here!" Mokuba slowly raised two fingers to touch the dried blood on his forehead, feeling a tiny scab fall away in hand. "Yuck!"
"Wait! Did it come out the other side?" Yami asked frantically, grabbing Mokuba's head and inspecting the back, relieved when he saw a similar bloody hole buried in the child's black hair.
"Ow, let go!" Mokuba struggled weakly, his vision fading slightly as his stomach curled with hunger. "I'm fine, I'm fine! Ge'rroff me, you're still naked!"
"Good," Yami breathed, releasing Mokuba and leaning back on his heels. "If the bullet had healed inside your brain, we'd have a problem."
Mokuba said nothing, tears building horribly behind his eyes.
He wanted to see Seto.
Yami had promised to save Seto, so, where was he?
"Drink," Yami encouraged gently, holding the man's arm out to Mokuba and seeing the kid huff and look away. "Mokuba…. you'll turn feral if you don't feed on human blood within the first 24 hours of your death."
"Put on some clothes first," Mokuba said shakily. He didn't want Yami seeing him cry.
"I'll go find my clothes," Yami replied seriously. "And you will drink something by the time I get back, promise?"
Mokuba nodded once, and he kept his gaze fixed on the dead man's collar, hating how the pilot's winged pin gleamed evilly up at him.
Yami sighed and rose to his feet, stepping carefully over broken branches and bits of glass to get back into the wreckage, searching for the bag that contained his clothes.
Mokuba's reluctance to feed was understandable.
It was a despicable act, and Mokuba was still a child.
Yami realized with a horrible jolt that he had neglected to ask how old Mokuba was before turning him, but he shoved his guilt aside, telling himself that he'd done the right thing.
After he revived the older Kaiba, both brothers would be united, and they could live happily in each other's company.
Spotting a familiar bag strap wedged under a seat, Yami lifted it up and shook his clothes out, relieved that every piece was there, even his underwear and shoes.
Hastily getting dressed, Yami slung the bag over his shoulder and leapt out of the debris, nearly falling over in shock when he saw Mokuba bent over the man's arm, drinking so enthusiastically, blood dribbled messily down his chin and soaked the front of his shirt.
"He tastes like…potatoes!" Mokuba breathed, pausing for air before he ducked his head back down and biting into the flesh again, his mind humming with excitement.
"I'm sure…" Yami said airily, perching himself delicately on an armrest as he watched Mokuba eat happily.
He was relieved the child was feeding, but he was anxious now, because this meant he had to provide several quarts of blood for Mokuba until his bloodlust matured fully. The newly dead were similar to human babies in this sense, needing about as much blood as they did milk.
"Slow down and stop when you're full. Don't overfeed," he instructed, seeing Mokuba shake his head stubbornly, keeping the man's arm clamped comically in his mouth.
"Why?" Mokuba asked, forcefully taking another gulp, feeling as if he was about to burst. This guy tasted good!
"Do you think dead bodies grow on trees?" Yami asked gruffly, wondering why he was now starting to sound like a parent. "Save some for dinner and breakfast tomorrow."
Mokuba pulled away from the man's arm and nodded, slowly standing and dusting himself off, wrinkling his nose at the streak of blood on his shirt.
"Can I change?" Mokuba asked, pointing at the bag on Yami's shoulder. "And now that I'm full, tell me where Seto is!"
Yami handed the bag to Mokuba and watched the child change his shirt casually.
He wondered how he could break the news to Mokuba without hurting him, and after a moment of contemplating, he gave up. This kid had a long life ahead of him, and if he couldn't take a bit of bad news, he would never grow stronger.
"Well?" Mokuba prompted, turning his shirt around on his body awkwardly when he realized he'd put it on backwards in his haste. "Where is he?"
"The men who killed you took his body," Yami said solemnly, and he saw Mokuba's face redden with rage.
"Are there vampire rules against killing people?" Mokuba asked immediately and Yami nodded nervously.
"Yes, yes there are," he said sternly. "There are groups of vampires who make sure everyone else upholds the laws."
"Vampire police," Mokuba said perceptively, and Yami bit back an amused smile.
"Yes—" Yami heard a rustle in the bushes and froze, holding his hand up for silence.
Mokuba crouched down over the body protectively, whispering, "what if a bear wants to take my food?"
"It could be that," Yami breathed, hopping off the armrest to pick up the body and dragging it back inside the plane. "Let's hide him in here. I saw a compartment in the back. It's a bit burnt but it'll do."
"'Kay," Mokuba said enthusiastically, bending down to pick up the man's lifeless feet, feeling generally unfazed as he helped Yami stuff the body into the plane's tarnished bathroom.
Yami slid the blackened metal door shut over the body and gave Mokuba an appraising look.
"You're not scared? Disgusted?"
"Nope," Mokuba said proudly, his eyes gleaming with strange determination. "This guy is nothing but dinner to me."
Yami nodded and didn't reply. He had to admire this child's bravery.
But then again, Mokuba had the luxury of being guided through death.
Not many vampires had guidance, and many turned feral before they realized what was happening.
"Now let's go get Seto," Mokuba urged, hopping out of the plane's broken aisle and stepping over several large sheets of burnt metal. "His belt!"
Mokuba swept Seto's belt off the ground and clutched it to his chest, glancing fearfully at the puddle of pants in the dirt.
"Why'd they take off his pants?" he asked shrilly, and Yami shook his head gently, leading Mokuba away from the wreckage, feeling the child resist and begin to cry in earnest.
"Yami...tell me why they took off his clothes!" Mokuba whined, beginning to slip into a tantrum. "Did you see them do it? Tell me why!"
"I don't know," Yami replied anxiously, pulling the child away from the clearing and into a thick patch of woods. "Let's be quiet now, okay? We'll find his body and give him proper clothes."
"NO! TELL ME WHY!" Mokuba yelled, and Yami pressed a finger to his lips, his patience running thin.
"I said I don't know!" Yami hissed, giving Mokuba's wrist a tight squeeze. "They probably did it to humiliate him. Humans do horrible things to dead bodies, you know that from reading the news, right? We'll get him back, I promise."
Mokuba calmed down after taking several deep breaths, seemingly having accepted the answer.
"Better now?" Yami asked, beginning to regret changing a child. Death already made people emotional, so changing a still-developing child was dangerous. It would be several centuries before Mokuba even hit puberty….and what then?
"Yeah…I'm…sleepy," Mokuba rubbed his eyes and bit back a yawn. "Potatoes-guy made me sleepy."
"We'll find shelter and rest," Yami replied warmly, leading them through the trees methodically as he searched for cover. "We can't rescue your brother together if you're sleepy."
"…Okay…" Mokuba grumbled, dutifully following Yami through the trees and fallen logs, ducking his head down when a low-hanging branch came swinging his way.
Yami kept his grip tighter around Mokuba's wrist, his anxiety rising higher by the minute as they continued through the forest.
Doubt plagued him like a dark cloud.
What if they couldn't reach the older Kaiba's body in time? What If the body had been disfigured, or had rot beyond saving? Then reviving it would only produce horrifying results. That would be cruel and traumatizing for Mokuba. He would be responsible for this child until he "grew-up", at least enough to be self-sufficient and in an adult form.
Abandoning a child vampire was considered a crime, Yami was pretty sure.
Most of the children he knew were attached to hostile families who watched over them begrudgingly, counting the centuries until the day the child reached 21.
He wouldn't abandon Mokuba and leave him in the care of other vampires.
He owed at least that much to Seto Kaiba.
"Yami…. I-I'm…sleepy," Mokuba whined, and he stumbled mid-step, accidentally tripping on a twig that was poking upwards through the dirt. "…Ow…"
"Get on my back, and I'll carry you until we find somewhere safe to sleep," Yami said, bending down and feeling the child lean heavily onto his back. Strong arms wrapped around his neck and clung on tightly, and Yami felt Mokuba's long hair tickle his ear.
Standing slowly, Yami hefted Mokuba on his back and continued trekking through the trees, one ear filled with the child's light snores while the other was sharp, listening for hostile sounds or footsteps.
Mokuba had said there was a castle on this island, so he was going to find it.
Kaiba slinked through the bushes, following the warm scent of something delicious.
He was dimly aware of his surroundings, but he was controlled by nothing but the curling hunger in his stomach. He had made too much noise earlier, and the animals he'd been preying on had vanished. But there was still hope.
The scent of buttery potatoes was heavy in the air.
Kaiba bounded forward into a forest clearing, nearly running headfirst into a tall sheet of metal.
Growling in annoyance, he slipped in through the oddly shaped rocks, keeping his nose low to the ground, fixated on the savory scent.
It was close…it was…right behind this…door….
Placing his paws against the blackened metal, Kaiba gave the edges several firm sniffs. Yes, the scent of potatoes was coming from behind this burnt door.
Spinning around, Kaiba gave the door a firm kick with his hind leg and saw it collapse inwards.
Hot potato soup spilled out from underneath the door and Kaiba bent down to drink eagerly, relief flooding him as quickly as his stomach was getting full.
When was the last time I ate? Kaiba thought dimly, unable to breathe properly as he continued to drink rapidly without pausing for breath.
Gasping for air and thoroughly satisfied, Kaiba leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, content and stuffed to the brim.
Drifting off lightly, a part of him wondered where Mokuba had gone. If he wasn't mistaken, he'd heard another familiar voice talking to him too.
Unable to stay conscious, Kaiba's head dropped to the side and he fell asleep.
Yami gently laid Mokuba against a mossy wall of rock, listening to the soft babble of a river several yards away from them.
It was dangerous to be near moving water, but he had to be close enough to human activity to know what was happening without leaving Mokuba unattended.
Sighing nervously, Yami curled himself protectively beside Mokuba and decided it would be better if he was in animal form.
The hostile humans would be hesitant to shoot a scary-looking wild animal napping with a child, but they wouldn't hesitate to attack two humans asleep.
Sitting up slowly, Yami stripped off his clothes and placed them in the bag, making sure to loop the strap around Mokuba's body before he crouched down on all fours and began his transformation.
His skin itched terribly as fur sprouted evenly across his entire body, and his tailbone ached as a tail came sprouting outwards fast, almost too fast. Hissing in annoyance, Yami forced himself to slow down. He'd been too accustomed to morphing into smaller animals, he'd forgotten how taxing it was to change into a larger one.
His fingernails ached as they elongated and sharpened, and Yami raised a furry paw up to his face, inspecting it with satisfaction. Good. He hadn't lost his touch.
Shaking himself all over, Yami tucked his head over Mokuba's lap and closed his eyes, keeping his ears perked just in case.
He knew they were wasting precious hours of time here while Seto's body was rotting somewhere, but he couldn't drag Mokuba along until the child slept for the first time.
Settling down comfortably, Yami closed his eyes, daring to relax. All was quiet, and just when Yami felt himself drifting off, he heard a soft rustle in the distance.
Perking up his ears, Yami held his breath, listening so intently, he could hear the air ringing loudly.
In the trees several yards away, Kaiba ducked behind a low-hanging branch, letting the leaves shield him from view as he stared through the leaves at a small child, defenseless and asleep. But there was a large, black wolf lying beside him with his head tucked on his lap.
This food source was too risky.
Something was telling him that eating this child would be a bad idea.
He was too small, and an adult would taste better.
Slinking away through the branches, Kaiba grit his teeth in annoyance. He could go back to preying on the larger humans—the ones that travelled in a pack.
Back at the riverside, Yami let his breath out slowly in a sigh of relief. He heard the thoughts of a hostile animal on the other side of the riverbank, contemplating eating Mokuba. Thankfully, it seemed to have changed it's mind.
The wolf form had worked, and it only proved that this island was growing more dangerous by the second. Once night fell, he needed to get Mokuba somewhere safe.
Closing his eyes again, Yami breathed evenly, keeping his ears perked for any branches snapping in the distance.
Kaiba woke up groggily, feeling pleasantly warm all over when he cracked an eye open and saw the silvery moonlight shining down across his pale arms.
Rising up from the dirt, he winced at the dark streaks decorating his legs, but was grateful that he was no longer in wolf form.
He sat up and received a horrible shock.
Four mangled bodies were strewn in a messy circle all around him, and Kaiba trembled when he realized he'd been sleeping on a man's muscular leg…which was no longer attached to the body.
Streaks of blood marred the trees around them, along with multiple deep scratches, looking like they belonged to a wild animal.
Shaking and shivering with fear, Kaiba realized that he was the wild animal that had gone on a rampage and killed these four humans!
Again! It had happened again!
And he had no fucking memory of it!
Who were these guys? Army men?
Inching away from the disembodied leg he'd been using as a pillow, Kaiba grimaced and patted his hand up the shredded fabric of the leg, finding the square-shaped wallet thankfully still inside the pants pocket. Disgusted with himself, Kaiba flipped the wallet open but there was nothing identifying the man aside from a plain metal keycard and several thousand yen in cash.
Tossing it aside with a growl, Kaiba rose to his feet and methodically checked the bloody body parts for the men's identities. One man either didn't have a wallet or it had been lost in the violent rampage.
Were any of the clothes salvageable enough to be worn?
Kaiba grit his teeth and fluidly undressed one of the muscular men who was the least mangled, hating that the clothes were all blood-stained, but mostly in one piece.
They fit him a little too well because of his height.
The dried blood on the shirt clung stubbornly to his chest, and there was a horrible stench coming from the pants, which Kaiba discovered was urine. H-How…pleasant.
Yanking the boots off another lifeless body, Kaiba stuck his feet in them and decided he'd look for a river because he vaguely remembered passing one by. Being clean wasn't high on his list of priorities, but damn, the pants smelled like shit.
Also, where was Mokuba? And the plane?
At least this rampage didn't happen in the city like last time.
Stepping over a headless torso, Kaiba's heel crunched down on something hard, and metal, so he bent down to inspect it, frowning when he realized it was a gun.
Did these men try to shoot him? Because it didn't work.
Kicking it aside, Kaiba decided he would take the man's wallet after all and fill it with the money he'd scrounged up from the others. He needed a fucking miracle to get out of this without questions. First, he needed to figure out where he was.
Walking several more steps out of the clearing, Kaiba saw the flash of a cell phone half-buried in the dirt from the scuffle, and he raced towards it excitedly. He needed to call Isono to get him the fuck out of here.
Picking it up from the dirt, Kaiba hissed in annoyance when he discovered it was an old flip phone that could barely grab a signal. These army men used disposable phones. Great.
His toaster was more high-tech than this brick.
Tossing it aside, he continued on his way, listening intently for the sound of running water. He could hear it…he just had to follow it….
Yami perked his head up when he heard a branch crack in the distance, and he turned to give Mokuba a nudge with his snout, pleased to see that the child was already awake, but he was staring off into space.
Classic new-blood behavior.
Mokuba had just died, so he was probably having trouble coming to terms with it.
Another branch cracked, louder this time, and Yami got up on all fours, shaking himself off, preparing to transform back into a human.
Time to go. Someone was coming.
He could feel Mokuba's gaze burning into him as the fur shrank painfully back into his skin, and his tail retracted slowly while his spine popped and grew.
Mokuba watched in open-mouth horror as the wolf's beautiful face turned ugly for a moment when human features began to emerge from underneath, and before he knew it, a very naked and slender man was standing in front of him.
"My clothes…someone's coming!" Yami whispered hoarsely, and Mokuba obeyed without question, looping the bag off his body and handing it over.
Digging out his clothes, Yami hastily got dressed and held his hand out for Mokuba to hold, seeing the child stare at it for a moment before nodding and grabbing onto him.
The moment the child's fingers wrapped around his, Yami tugged Mokuba forward and they raced off through the trees together at top speed, with the wind billowing through their hair and clothes as they leapt over low-hanging branches and mossy logs.
Mokuba blinked rapidly, trying to take it all in, but it was a bit too much. They were…running, fast. Too fast. Everything was a blur around them, and there was a strange smell…a sickly-sweet smell….
They skidded to a halt in a clearing, and Yami instantly reached down to cover Mokuba's eyes when he saw the carnage strewn before them. It looked like a giant animal had mauled a group of humans to death, violently, and without mercy.
"Leggo! I wanna see!" Mokuba hissed, struggling to pry Yami's hands off his face while he panted, gasping for breath. "What is it? A dead bear?"
Setting his jaw, Yami slowly lowered his hand to let Mokuba gape at the four, dead army men lying scattered on the forest floor in various pools of dark blood.
"That's the guy who shot me in the head!" Mokuba cried angrily, letting of Yami's hand and racing over to the man's legless torso.
"FUCK YOU!" he shouted, kicking the man in the ear, and the head remained stiffly in position, indicating that the men had been dead for more than a few hours.
"That's enough…you'll get blood on your shoes," Yami said sternly, pulling Mokuba away from the bodies, but the child was incensed, continuing to berate the dead body.
"You're lucky you got killed, c-cuz I w-would've gotten you otherwise!" Mokuba sobbed, stamping his tiny foot down on the man's face, and Yami bit the inside of his cheek, wondering how much of this behavior was acceptable.
He could hear the crunch of the man's nose breaking.
"Stop that," Yami growled, picking the child up by his armpits and swinging him over his shoulder while Mokuba's legs thrashed and kicked in protest. "Did you forget? We need to find Seto."
Mokuba stilled and hung limply over Yami's shoulder, tears burning underneath his eyelids as he let out a strained sob.
Those men…were buttholes! They had taken Seto's body, and now they couldn't find out where because they were dead!
Yami gave Mokuba a reassuring pat on the back, feeling the child tremble in his grasp and remain silent.
Sighing sympathetically, Yami stepped over another broken log and continued onwards, following the sound of voices he thought he'd heard, several miles away. The priority now was to get Mokuba to safety, because he had a budding vampire on his hands.
Kaiba drenched himself in the river from head to toe, shivering incessantly and cursing.
He scrubbed at his skin, trying to get the blood and dirt out from underneath his fingernails. God…damn this fucking…. shit.
Streams of dried blood were wafting off of his clothes and tinting the water, and Kaiba hastily wrung out the shirt, wrinkling his nose at the metallic scent. New things he was learning: old blood smelled gross, fresh blood smelled like potatoes.
There was a loud rustle on the other side of the river, and Kaiba froze, scanning the area and seeing nothing. Fuck this place. Time to get the fuck out and safely back home.
Mokuba must be wondering where he was.
Yami set Mokuba on his feet at the edge of the clearing, and they watched a line of people boarding a giant cruise ship at the edge of the water.
"You think they put Seto on there?" Mokuba asked timidly, wondering why the grass was different here. "This might be part of the resort that we had to ribbon-cut for. See? The grass is fluffy. I think I remember us picking types of grass, and this was one we chose."
"What?" Yami replied absentmindedly, his mind filled with schemes on how to get aboard without being seen. He didn't have the energy to entertain Mokuba in silly conversations about picking grass.
"Never mind," Mokuba grumbled, realizing that Yami's eyes were narrowed at the two men in suits who were scanning everyone's wristbands with their phones. "What if we just walk up there and tell them to let me on because I'm Mokuba Kaiba?"
"You're supposed to be dead, remember?" Yami asked lightly, resting a gentle hand on Mokuba's shoulder. "When they find out you're alive, what's stopping them from trying again?"
"Uh, I dunno, maybe the fact that I'm immortal now?" Mokuba raged, and he received a soft smile from Yami.
"You're not invincible, there's a difference," Yami said ruefully, thinking there was a lot of educating he needed to do before Mokuba truly understood. "You have to stay alive to remain immortal."
"You just called me 'dead', so make up your stupid mind," Mokuba grumbled, crossing his arms in a huff, and Yami glared sharply at him.
"Talk to me like that again and I'll leave you here," Yami admonished, wondering how constructive this threat was. "Please behave, and we'll find Seto soon enough."
Mokuba grit his teeth and said nothing.
"I've got it," Yami said slowly, straightening up and smoothing his clothes down. "When the last person boards, we will accost the two guards and overpower them, mentally. They'll forget they ever saw us, and this will be a nice lesson in 'pressuring'. Understand?"
Mokuba blinked and nodded, his heart racing with excitement. "Mind-wiping," he said eagerly, and he earned another exasperated look from Yami,
"It's more like Mind-changing," Yami corrected gently, watching the line of people thin out. "Get ready. Don't break eye contact, and don't be too demanding."
Mokuba held his breath and felt Yami reach down to give his hand a reassuring squeeze.
"What if they recognize me?" Mokuba asked, panic washing over him in a sudden wave, and he tugged on Yami's hand. "Can you do it? I don't wanna do any brain washing!"
"Very well, then all you do is watch," Yami said kindly, using his other hand to pat Mokuba on top of his head. "Ready now?"
Mokuba shook his head briefly before he stopped and nodded just a fraction of an inch.
He took a deep shuddering breath and let Yami lead them out of the clearing and towards the two guards who were talking to each other at the base of the ramp.
Yami strode confidently up the ramp, and Mokuba's hand grew sweaty in his when the men yelled out behind them, "Hey! Wait a minute!"
Slowly turning to face the men, Yami gave each of them a calculated smile and made eye contact as he spoke, "You've already checked us."
Mokuba's hand tightened over his fingers painfully.
"We did? No we didn't," the man on his left said, and Yami hastily turned to give that man more heavy eye contact, listening to the steady beating of his heart.
"Yes, you did," Yami said deeply, seeing the man's eyelids droop ever so slightly. "You've had a long day. Maybe you both…need to rest."
Yami aimed a steely glare at the other guard on his right and saw the man waver on his feet, immediately looking worn out and drained.
"Y-Yeah, I am…frickin' tired, man." The guard on his left yawned, and Yami felt Mokuba's hand loosen around his.
"Up you go. Hurry up. I want a nap," the guard on his right insisted, pointing impatiently at the glowing door above their heads. "Stop lookin' at me and go!"
"Thanks," Yami said blithely, and he strode upwards into the ship. Mokuba followed him on trembling legs, unable to believe they had just lied their way onto the ship...almost too easily. This totally explained why vampires were considered 'masters of evil'!
Breathing a sigh of relief, Mokuba leaned against the wall of a hallway, seeing Yami peering around and eyeing the golden doors of various suites with an air of excitement.
"Should we get a room?" Yami asked, talking more to himself. "I'd like a proper bath after all of that excitement, and maybe some human food after you do your first change in private. What do you think, Mokuba?"
"My first what?" Mokuba asked blankly, now starting to feel sleepy himself while his stomach growled lightly. "I'm…tired and…hungry."
Uh oh, Yami muttered to himself, grinding his teeth. Time to find food on this ship.
"First, we'll get a room," Yami said, and he saw Mokuba nod and slide to the ground in an undignified sitting position, rubbing his eyes tiredly.
Baby vampires…were so…troublesome!
Kaiba walked quickly along the beach, his gaze nailed to the cruise ship docked in the distance. Fuck. He was going to miss it. The ramp had been pulled up moments ago, meaning the anchor was going up too.
Letting his breath out in a frustrated huff, he sprinted down the edge of the water towards the ship, his lungs burning for air as he marveled at his own speed. It felt like he was flying! Was he flying? Maybe there was enough momentum to take him up onto the first floor of the ship.
He could scale the railing easily at the speed he was approaching the vessel with.
Deciding to do it on a split-second decision, Kaiba pushed himself into a full sprint, the wind whistling past his ears as the scenery turned into a blue blur, but his vision was clear, and it was as if he was seeing everything in slow motion.
He stretched his leg out in one long leap, and that jump took him all the way up past the first railing, past the second railing, and he was approaching the third floor too quickly. Finally, he felt himself hover in the air, suspended briefly before he began to fall downwards along the side of the ship. F-Fuck!
Reaching out frantically, Kaiba managed to wrap his fingers around the second floor's railing, and his body came swinging forwards heavily into it. A sickening crack shook his body, and the wind was knocked out his lungs. D-Double…fuck!
The pain was a horrible shock, causing his grip to weaken, and he slid slowly downwards, collapsing onto the first floor that was jutting out below.
Gasping and wheezing, Kaiba cursed himself for his own stupidity as he pressed his fingers into the tender spot where he'd broken several ribs.
Thankfully, it seemed no one was around to see that.
Where the hell was everyone?
At the welcome speech in the ballroom probably.
Panting with exertion, Kaiba bent down on all fours, his vision turning green as he felt himself heat up while his body healed rapidly. What the hell was this shit? Did drinking human blood suddenly make him unbreakable?
Maybe that's why…human blood…tasted better than animal blood. More fun facts.
Trembling with effort, Kaiba dragged himself to his feet and caught a brief glimpse of his nonexistent reflection in ships' large paned windows. He recoiled, choosing instead to look down at himself.
The clothes needed to go, and he definitely needed new shoes.
Time to raid the ship for supplies, and a phone.
Mokuba was probably really fucking worried about him by now.
Author's note:
packed chapter! Moki doesn't wanna use his powers cuz he's scared, poor thing!
And kaiba is just…using them…incorrectly and hurting himself. Still suffering from mild amnesia but im sure he'll be finnnnne
Good thing he's feeling much less feral now that he's drank like 4 – 5 adult human bodies worth of blood lolllllll
+++++++ about current events (march 4, 2020)+++++++
thank you for all the well wishes regarding my health because of the virus.
I am fine for now.
I have likely been exposed but I am not yet sick.
I am not showing any symptoms, but I DO live in the epicenter of the outbreak (king county, WA) and a LOT of people I know ARE sick, so I feel like its only a matter of time before I get sick as well.
When that happens, I'll be sure to let you know. (and if I die, you'll know for sure, because the chapter updates would have stopped ahahahaa -ok let's not joke about that- you know I will come back from the grave to post updates!)
good places to reach me are: discord (ugli#7509)
tumblr: uglifish
twitter: prettiugli
Instagram:
the people I know who are in their 20's that are "mildly sick", "getting there", or have been feverish for the past week CANNOT get a kit because their condition is not critical enough to warrant testing?
This is scary and very real.
News is SLOW and they are not reporting accurately.
Shit happening here that's NOT making the news:
hospitals are FULL
making it hard for people with other emergency ailments (like retinal detachment) to worsen because they can't get help either.
they are sending people away who are still sick, therefore infecting everyone else they come into contact with.
I can't express this enough.
DON'T BE A SHITTY PERSON! STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK
sharing your germs at this time is not caring.
And if you can't afford to do that…CALL IN to ask for a special circumstance. This is serious.
Wear a mask of any kind so you keep your germs to yourself.
I know the price gouging for masks is insane right now, so anything to let your fellow people know you are sick and to stay away, is the correct method of action.
Furthermore, if you think "this isn't going to happen to me", or "Seattle is a continent away, I live in -some far away state-" and that "I am a healthy 20 something. It can't touch me."
no.
Being a healthy carrier is the worst thing you could do to your friends, family, and anyone you come into contact with who might be have a compromised immune system.
"I was already sick a couple weeks ago. I'm immune."
NO ONE is immune to this. (SOURCE INFO HERE) you can get it over and over again.
This is a "novel" virus, which means the immune system has never been exposed to it and therefore everyone is susceptible. There is no vaccine, nor do authorities expect one until WINTER 2021, assuming we all make it far, amirite?
Fear is needed if you want to be prepared.
BE PREPARED.
I am not being an alarmist.
(read this and be informed)
This is real, and you need to prep if you haven't already.
- get zinc lozenges (for inflammation in your throat or lungs) & vitamin C tablets (immune boosters)
- get pasta / canned soup / boxed mac and cheese / prep like you are going camping with a 5 year old for 3 weeks.
I care that you and your loved ones are protected.
I cannot emphasis enough HOW FAST this illness spreads.
the CDC website is a source of truth. Check it often.
IF YOU ARE SICK RIGHT NOW, here is a chart to monitor your symptoms to see if it matches the COVID-19 symptoms.
.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0452-f1
getting sick, mildly or otherwise is dangerous right now.
Stay safe. Stay healthy. Help those in need if they reach out to you, especially if you have elderly neighbors who might not have support.
This virus is going to shape how we behave in humanity for years to come.
This isn't going to be "over" when summer hits.
If anything, it'll lull people into a false sense of security.
The virus is not contained.
DO NOT attend large gatherings.
Do not attend small gatherings.
Do not meet up (for a quick coffee with a friend, or a ygo tournament on a random Saturday.)
No face-to-face for the next few months if you can help it.
Stay safe. Stay healthy.
with all my love,
Ugli
