They walked over to a landing not far from the railing and looked down.
"Yami look, I think that's Mokuba!"
"Seto over there, isn't that Ryo?" Yami asked but he was covered in mud as well as Mokuba so it was hard from their distance to be positive.
x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x
Bakura was stunned for a moment then drew his sword and made his way up the stairs. "You protect the brat, I'll take over the fight."
"NO!" Ryo said, holding his side with one hand and his sword up with the other. "This is my fight! You protect that kid; he's not a brat! He's my little brother!"
Seto, Yami and Bakura were all stunned by this admission. Mokuba however only smiled.
"Be careful big brother." Mokuba called out.
Again, everyone looked to Mokuba in surprise.
"I guess he has moved on." Seto said, turning to leave. But Yami stopped him.
"No, you don't Seto Kaiba. That kid is here now! He must be here for a reason and seeing as how he's on the stairs there's only one reason he'd be here and coming up the stairs."
Seto looked at him. "You really think he was coming to see us?"
"I can't think of another reason can you?"
Seto smiled. "No, I can't." Then he moved back to the railing edge with Yami.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Bakura yelled. "You can barely stand let alone fight."
"This is my fight! If you don't want to protect Mokuba, fine then get out of here! But if you're just going to stand there then protect him. I swear if I make it out of this and find out there's one scratch on that kid you'll wish there wasn't!"
Bakura was stunned he'd never heard Ryo talk like this before. He simply nodded agreement to watch over Mokuba. He was too surprised at his little brother to do much else.
"Can we get this over with? Who am I fighting?" Malik asked who'd been intrigued by the conversations.
Though Bakura was right about Ryo's barely being able to stand his adrenaline kept him moving, he had to protect Mokuba! He wasn't going to let this man hurt him and he didn't know if he could count on Bakura to keep his word and protect Mokuba. Plus he also wanted to prove to Bakura that he wasn't weakling. He could handle himself in a fight!
"You're fighting me, remember." Ryo said.
"How could I forget?" Malik said.
Then Malik thrust his sword forward but Ryo was able to just barely dodge it and hit Malik in the back with his sword handle. This sent Malik into the wall he turned around and growled then smirked remembering that Mokuba was his weakness.
"Where are you going, this is our fight!" Ryo demanded.
Bakura narrowed his eyes. "Why are you doing this Malik? I thought you were a loyal guard of this castle now you are picking on children as well as my little brother?"
"So that brat's your brother too huh?" Malik asked amused.
"What, no I was talking about Ryo!" Bakura said.
"Then if you have no loyalties to the brat just hand him over." Malik said.
"Don't you do it Bakura, he plans to kill him?"
"What?" Bakura asked, not sure he'd heard right.
"That's right, my orders are both Ryo and that brat are to be eliminated!"
"I trusted you, I always thought it was strange how a swordsman as good as you chose to remain a guard and not apply for knighthood."
"Well had I applied for knighthood and got it then I couldn't continue to patrol the grounds. Not to mention keeping an eye out for my idiot brother."
"Your brother?" Ryo question. Then as Malik turned to look at him, Ryo finally made the connection. "That's why Mokuba was frightened when you came down the stairs! You look a little like your brother. The same one who tried to kill him more than once and killed a friend of ours that died because she wanted to protect him!"
"So the bitch he killed in that house I read about, she was a friend of yours?" Malik asked.
"Yes, she was. She was a good friend; you have no right to disgrace her name. She loved Mokuba very much and died in hopes he'd make it out okay."
Malik now turned his attention back to Ryo now slightly amused at Ryo's temper. "Oh, so the bitch was obviously your bitch and you're only testy that Marik got a piece of her and you didn't, is that it?"
Now Ryo was extremely mad now! "She wasn't a bitch and yes she was a very close friend!" Ryo said and charged towards Malik.
Then the two started into a fierce fighting match, neither gaining the upper hand.
Bakura watched in surprise. 'I-I never realized Ryo could fight like that! I… I guess I always still saw him as my little brother, like this kid always hanging around and off you. Not capable of caring for himself properly or defending himself much less capable of fighting to defend other people. I always saw him like this kid, just a 10-year-old, not the 17-year-old he really is. Maybe that's why he's attached to this kid. He treats him like an adult whereas I treat him like a child.'
The battle and blood loss were finally catching up to Ryo and Malik took advantage of it. Malik kicked him, causing Ryo to land against the stairs. As Malik went in to stab him for the final blow Ryo moved but not fast enough, as the sword pierced his arm. Ryo cried out and quickly grabbed his sword. As Malik pulled his sword out of Ryo's arm, Ryo took the chance and lunged forward stabbing Malik between his stomach and chest. It just missed any vital organs. Malik gasped he couldn't believe he'd been beaten; neither could Bakura.
Bakura quickly ran to Ryo's side who'd passed out, just as Malik collapsed against the far wall. Then several other guards who'd just heard about the fight arrived on the scene.
Bakura bent down over Ryo. "Don't you die on me, little brother! You've still got a long way to go to be a master swordsman like myself and I can't teach you if you leave me! Do you hear me Ryo? You can't die! I promised mom and dad I'd look after you and I'd train you. I failed. I know that I realize now that you're not a little kid anymore! I just couldn't see that before! I see that now. Damn it Ryo, say something, look at me anything!"
All he got in response was a low groan.
"Well it's not exactly what I wanted but it'll do. But I'll never forgive you if you die on me Ryo!" Bakura told him, picking him up into his arms.
"Sir Bakura, what should we do?" a guard asked.
"You two bring him to the infirmary and keep him under guard if he lives. I want to talk to him more. You two help me get Ryo to the infirmary."
"Yes, sir!" the guards all said doing as they were told.
Mokuba was crying, he hoped Ryo would live.
Seto and Yami ran to the landing to comfort Mokuba but Alister and Varon refused.
"What are you doing the fights over let us down there!" Yami said.
"I'm sorry sir but the castle has to be secured first to root out any more trouble."
Mokuba continued to cry, then looked around for his doll, and then he remembered she was still outside. Wanting at least some form of comfort, he got up and ran down the stairs.
Seto and Yami saw this and panicked thinking he was going to run away again before they had the chance to talk with him. They looked at each other and nodded.
"Sorry fellas but our brother needs us." Yami said.
Then Seto and Yami banged their heads together and as they sank to the ground, they ran after Mokuba who by this time had already gotten the door open and ran outside. Seto and Yami ran faster not wanting to lose the kid for a second time.