Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Vampire Hunter D.
Again I am so sorry that I haven't even put this up. I wasn't joking when I said that this was just sitting there, complete and waiting to be shared with you all...
I have a few other chapters that I hope to space out throughout this next month, so for those who are still interested, can read without getting overwhelmed, and offers me a chance to work on the chapters I am working on. Also, if you, my dear readers, are still interested in what I've got to share, don't be afraid to throw me a message or a review. It reminds me to have some fun even when I'm stuck working. This story has never quite left my mind, even when I'm working on my own stories, or writing essays for school.
And as a note to you all, it's been a long road, and a longer one still to come...I just want to thank you for coming along.
Chapter Twenty One: Into The Sunset
"Do you think it's true?" Andy asked, folding in his cards and fanning them out again. "Go fish by the way."
D picked a card from the top of the pile with care to make sure that the boy before him did not see it. Staring at it he sighed, unable to mask his annoyance. It was a jack. He needed a three or a queen. "What's true?"
"That there's a 'monster' in the sewers. Do you have any fours?"
D grinned. "Go fish."
"Dammit," Andy grunted, snatching a card from the pile. He frowned and shifted his cards to fit it in the middle. "I'm serious though; do you think it's true?"
"I don't know," he replied honestly, "I wasn't there. All I know is that if Bakura-sama says there was something in the sewers, then there was something in the sewers. He never said it was a monster. "Do you have any queens?"
The boy's frown deepened as he gave D the card he just picked up. "This is a baby game anyway," he grumbled, "Why can't we be in there with everyone else? It's not like we don't already know what's going on."
"Maybe they think we'll get bored?" D offered, "Why do you want to be in there anyway?"
Andy opened his mouth to reply and then closed it. It was obvious that he felt left out; there was no other reason for him to want to listen to Bakura rehash the story that he had told Matt when the group returned, on edge. He had heard the interesting parts anyway.
"It's not like your father is going to give you a gun and let you chase after it," D said. He supposed it was not fair for Andy that D could hear what was going on inside the other room, and that he really did know that there was nothing new that Bakura was saying, no matter how often someone asked him to repeat it. From what D could gather, Bakura had gone to shoot it, it had seen him, and it had slithered away down the hole before the bullet even clinked off of the metal. He had called for the others, who were alarmed by the gun shot and had come riding back, and pointed towards the area it had been in, telling them what he had seen. None of them could agree what to do from there. Bakura wanted to return and warn others, Robert had wanted to go down there immediately, and Henry had simply thought that the young man had imagined things. Until they heard an odd bumping noise echo from the hole. Then he said it was probably a rat of some sort to which Bakura had replied that unless it was a large rat there was no way it could have lifted the cover. D wondered how it would have even climbed a ladder. They had all begrudgingly agreed then to wait until morning and to gather flashlights and a few more men for the search.
However, when Bakura had returned home, he had immediately told Matt the story, who had called for an emergency city council meeting to the chagrin of both members who would have rather dealt with it in the morning for one reason or another. Now D and Andy were sitting with the other children (most of whom were asleep) and two supervisors in the hall just outside the room where those who were old enough and able were rehearing Bakura's explanation and deciding what they would do on the matter.
"He gave a gun to that Bakura guy, and he missed. I wouldn't have missed."
D bit back cruel words as he said, "It's difficult to see at night and the thing moved faster than Bakura could. Probably your dad would have missed too."
"Nuh uh."
"Oh, really?" D replied, putting down his cards. "Well, if that's so then come with me."
Andy raised an eyebrow. "Where are we going? We just can't leave, they'd notice."
"Only if you don't do what I do."
Soon they were outside, their supervisors none the wiser. The wind was a chill slap across their skin and the moon was high in the darkness, but D knew that the sun would be rising soon enough. It mattered nothing to him since he saw everything he needed to, which is to say an empty town. His only concern was the hazy beginnings of fog building up around them.
"Well what now?" Andy asked.
"Now it's simple. You said you wouldn't miss, so I'm going to run two blocks down, which was how far the thing was away, and you are going to throw…this!" D bent down and picked up a rock of good size for a child's hand, offering it to Andy. "At me."
"It's not the same! It's slower!"
"I'm not going to move."
Andy huffed. "It's still not the same, dip face."
"Aim doesn't come from the gun, it comes from the shooter," D replied sagely.
"And you can kiss my ass," Andy snorted, but took the rock anyway and waited for D to position himself.
"Do you think this is a good idea?" a horse whisper came from D's left hand as he jogged to his position.
"Did you say something?" Andy called out to him.
"No!" he replied, clenching his fist. 'I'm fine,' he thought to himself, 'He thinks he's better than Bakura-sama, well he can show me. Whatever it is was probably startled by the gunshot and is nowhere near here.' He clenched his fist tighter when he heard muffled laughter. There was no chance that whatever it was could be a monster. He was the monster, and D doubted that what had appeared was a vampire of any sort. Vampires and dhampirs alike did not slither.
When he reached the intersection he had deemed far enough, he turned and waved his hands. He could tell that the boy could see him, as he waved back. "Yeah, this isn't the same…" he muttered to himself, "which only makes him look ridiculous if he misses." The wind blew past him and the hollow sound it made to his left caught his attention. He looked down and noticed a gutter on each end of the roads that joined. A plink and D jumped back startled, forgetting that the boy was throwing rocks at him.
"YOU MOVED!" Andy yelled, pointing.
"It hit the ground first!" he hollered back, "Try again!"
Again and again the boy missed, but instead of becoming irritated, or D making his point realized, they had found a game that entertained both parties. Only now it was more a game of catch. They hooted and hollered, laughed and Andy yelled in pain once or twice when a rock D had thrown bounced off him instead of in his hands. Neither of them realized that they had been moving further away from the hall, just as neither of them realized that no one could hear them at their play. D had forgotten in his fun that humans did not have his hearing. It had never once crossed Andy's mind. Nor had those who were supposed to watch them realized their absence; one had fallen asleep along with the other children while the other was more interested in keeping their ear to the door to listen to what was going on in the other room.
The wind had ceased to blow but D continued to feel the chill as he took a step back to better position himself for his throw. Andy's arms were raised, but his shape was becoming hazy in the thickening fog. The smell of the sea was strong in the air, a smell that D could not figure if he were sick of or in love with. The boy before him hopped once, twice in impatience as D pulled his arm back, concentrated on not throwing it too hard; Andy would already have a few bruises in the morning from his carelessness. Just as he was about to swing his arm forward he heard it: a pronounced slithering noise, something scraping underneath his feet. Andy called out to him, irritated, but he lifted his left hand in a wait position, getting on his knees and pressing his ear to the ground.
"What are you doing?" The boy called, jogging over to him. D scrunched his face in concentration trying to discern the tromping of feet and that odd scraping noise beneath. "Why'd you stop?"
"Shh!" he hissed, putting a finger to his lips, listening harder. "You hear that?"
"Hear what?"
D motioned for him to kneel down with him. "That," he said when Andy's ear was to the ground. The boy looked at him as if he were mad.
"What? Are you messing with me?" Andy asked, tired of what he must have assumed was a game and standing up. "Wow it's getting foggy."
D rolled his eyes and listened harder. It sounded like it was moving away from him, behind him, up…
"I think that it's best if we leave…now," his left hand whispered, as if its voice would alert the thing beneath the concrete.
"What're you doooing?" Andy said, and grabbed D, pulling him up. "It's not funny."
D swatted him away. "I hear something!" he snapped, "Now will you stop it so I can tell which way its—" He stopped mid-sentence, frozen to the spot as he heard something clunk behind him. Andy blinked and looked over D's shoulder, his face full confusion.
"What is that?" The boy asked, and as D turned, Andy screamed.
D came face to face with a thing that reeked of death.
"How many more times am I going to have to repeat myself?" Bakura cried, raising his arms in exasperation. "We should be doing something about what I saw, not validating whether or not I saw it for the fifteenth time."
"What do you propose we do?" someone called out. "Crawl in there with a flashlight one at a time so maybe we can get lost down there?"
"Doing nothing is going to get more people killed!"
"Now wait a minute," Donna Grady said, folding her arms out in front of her and leaning forward to look Bakura in the eye. "We don't know if anyone has died."
Bakura bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself, she was a part of the city council and he should not get on their bad side, but it did no good. "Well, no one's come back have they?" he blurted.
"No one has," Henry agreed, "but even if we assume this, it's still a bit unsettling that you are so sure of this being the case."
"There's no time for insinuations, Ortega," Matt said, standing, "It's obvious that you don't like what he has to say so why don't you just make your accusation plain?"
"What accusation?" Another woman in the crowd asked. A murmur of confusion drifted from one end of the room to the other, some attendants shaking their head and complaining that they just wanted sleep, not a game of point-the-finger. Bakura, already uncomfortable with the attention, wondered how this would help his case. He did not question Matt's belief in him, however, having Henry's opinion voiced may do his own position more harm.
"I'm not insinuating—"
"That's a load of bull and you know it."
Henry frowned, looked at his fellow council members and sighed. "I don't trust that he saw anything. I was out there. I think I would have heard something. The fact that it was dark and I was distracted was the only reason that I even thought the idea was maybe true. Now that I've heard it a couple of times, all I can think of is that it sounds pretty rehearsed."
"I repeated it!" Bakura snapped. "Just as you told me to; what would you say if I had said anything different? That I was inconsistent and shouldn't be trusted? I saw something!"
"And what if that's just what those people who sent you here wanted us to think?!" the man snapped right back. "It makes more sense to me that there's some group out there sneaking into town and raiding our stuff, finding our people and dragging them off to do God knows what to them, and sending in a guy with a kid to be their spy than some fucking monster thing with red eyes in the goddamned sewer!"
"Now that's just ridiculous!" Robert shouted, pointing at Henry. "This kid has nothing but good in his heart; he wants to keep us safe, just like the rest of us!"
"Sure, let him feed you that bullshit that you were trying to feed me back there."
The crowd was at first quiet, watching the shouting match in confusion. Soon they were adding their voices in however, and no sooner had Donna raised her hands to keep the two men from getting near each other, a fight broke out in the back of the room. The noise startled the supervisor watching which made her step back from the room and the sound of the door slamming woke the children that had not already been jerked awake by the shouting. There was a collective wail heard beyond the door and an array of cursing, both in English (which Bakura could understand for the most part) and Spanish (to which he knew nothing of). Bakura was not sure how it had escalated to this point, but he realized one certain fact. The town was a bomb of aggression. It had only been a matter of time after all the strain that it had been put through before it blew up. There had to be an outlet, and the townspeople were using each other. It was insane, Bakura thought; instead of fighting what needed to be fought they were fighting themselves. It was madness.
There was a whistle that pierced his ears and he clapped his hands over them, surprised he could still hear the shrill noise beyond the ringing. Everyone turned to where the noise was coming from and saw Sophie, a woman with two fingers in her mouth and a face full of determination. The toddlers and infants on the other side of the room were still squalling, but that was the only noise that was now pervading the air.
"That's it!" she called. "Enough of this nonsense! Are we children?"
There was a rush of grumbles at this, but Sophie waved them off. Bakura caught sight of Elizabeth standing next to her looking confused about the situation. She was staring at him like she had never seen him before. He did not know if this was to his benefit or not.
"This is really not necessa—"
"Shut your mouth, Henry," she snapped, "or I'll do it for you. And it is necessary. Bakura said he saw something that might be the reason that people are missing and all we can do is fight with each other? Are we all that fucking stupid?"
"I ain't stupid!" called someone from somewhere in the room. Part of the crowd chuckled.
"Well ain't that grand," Sophie snorted, walking up to the podium where Bakura stood. "Listen, everyone. I've held my tongue for far too long on this. I didn't think that we could fall this low, not to trust someone who might really need our help in surviving in this world and who is willing to help us with our own troubles, but I guess we have." She looked around, at the people of her city with sadness in her eyes. "I've had Bakura in my household, with my husband and children, and I've seen no reason to disbelieve anything he has said. I've seen no reason to trust him, except for when it comes to telling me I can use chopsticks." She received a few chuckles for that. "And D, he's a cutie. And a hard worker. What I'm trying to say, is that don't cha'll think that if either of these people were untrustworthy, that my husband and I would have noticed? We're fighting amongst ourselves when we should be focusing on what could be the reason behind all of the missing people. The world's changed, and while I still don't believe in monsters, I do believe that there might be something that could be using the sewers as transportation and it would explain why we haven't found any bodies. What I'm trying to say, is that we can't just throw the idea aside just because it was dark and the guy couldn't see well. What I'm trying to say is that if we don't attempt to look and see if it is true, than we might be dooming ourselves to die." She took a breath and nodded to herself. "And that's about it."
"Thank you," Bakura mumbled to her as she turned to leave.
"Nothing to thank me for," she replied, but he could tell she was smiling. He looked back at Elizabeth who gave him the thumbs up sign and could not stop beaming at her mother as she made her way back.
"Well," Robert said, clearing his throat, "what are we deciding to do?" All of the council members looked at one another as if unable to proceed as usual. In time they did proceed and decided that they would try and find the blueprints so that a group of people who were good with direction could crawl down there and see what they were dealing with. The group was chosen with Bakura left out of the plan entirely, which he was grateful for.
"It's crazy," he said to Matt, shaking his head.
"I'll say," replied Matt, "But at least you're part is over, right?"
"Yeah," Bakura chuckled. "D-kun!" he called into the crowd, knowing the boy would hear him and drag his new friend along, "Come on, we are heading home!"
He waited for a moment, thinking that D was just clearing up his mess like he was known to do, but when the crowd started thinning and he could still not see the boy, he frowned.
"Maybe he didn't hear you?" Elizabeth said, standing beside him. She went forward calling for D and her brother, in a much louder voice than he had. Still nothing.
"D-kun?!" Bakura called out, hurrying around the hall, beginning to panic. He always was quick to answer when he was called. He pushed past the people to get outside, thinking maybe he had followed the flow of traffic, thinking Bakura was outside. "D-kun!"
People were beginning to look at him oddly, but he did not care. He kept shouting the boy's name, dread filling his heart. No…it was impossible.
"Bakura!" Elizabeth exclaimed, running down the steps in a panic, her parents close behind. "I can't find either of them!"
A piercing scream bit through the night air and a hush fell over the crowd. They all stared in its direction, as if hypnotized.
"D-kun!" Bakura gasped, a hand covering his mouth.
No, no, not D.
Andy.
Andy was shrieking at the top of his lungs. D remembered screaming, out of shock more than out of pain, but it had been drowned out by Andrew Ellis who was doing a fine job of directing the thing's attention off of D as he stared at his half severed left hand. Unbidden tears were pouring out of his eyes; blurring his vision as his wrist throbbed in agony each time he tried to move his arm. Now it hurt. Oh, how it hurt.
He had no time to worry over it, regardless of the blood that was gushing through the deep laceration. He may recover from such a thing; Andy would certainly not. Clamping his right hand over his wrist, he forced himself to his feet, the smell of blood turning his stomach in knots of need. He shouted, nonsense more than actual words, and barreled forward, knocking Andy away from the creature with the gaping mouth and jaggedly sharp teeth. The scream that the others heard the second time was indeed D as the creature lashed out with one of its elongated arms, digging its unnatural claws into the flesh of D's calf. Still, he forced his way forward, letting go of his wrist and snatching the back of Andy's jacket, limping away at a speed that Andy found hard to keep up. D could hear the creature claw and slither its way forward, could feel its round staring eyes on him, could smell the death on its breath that it promised him. He bit his lip in painful determination, unintentionally drawing blood. The taste filled his mouth, and he heard Andy squeal as the thing tried to grab at them, too eager to catch a meal that had been denied it for almost a month. The other boy began to sob, and D had to tug him forward, leaving bloody footprints behind him as he searched for a place to hide. They were out in the open, so the thing's speed had been diminished. If he had enough time to analyze the situation, D would have noted that it seemed to both claw at its surrounding area as well as worm its way across the ground. The only thing that would register now as a thought that was not inherently aggressive was that it must have been created by some radiation somewhere. Some mutated egg, maybe some hybrid that had sloshed down the slowing pipes somehow making its way into town's sewers, growing and feeding off of the town's people.
"You can stop being useless!" he shouted, looking down at his flopping hand, its pain still fresh and cruel.
"W…w…what?" Andy asked, thinking he had been talking to him. D did not respond, but shoved him further into the middle of the road. Instinct told him that tighter spaces would be the death of them.
"Oh and what do you want me to do?" D's left hand asked, "Warn you better next time?"
"DO SOMETHING," he commanded, ignoring Andy's shocked stare. "What use are you to me if you can only sit there and whine about being fed?! Father put you there for a reason! NOW BE USEFUL!"
"Ungrateful little thing aren't you?" it snorted, "I take it you want this here hand back in working condition, perhaps faster than usual?"
"Do it." There was no pleading. "Or I'll rip you off the rest of the way and throw you to the stupid thing."
"Not necessary!" As D ran he could feel heat at his left side, then a cool wet then dry feeling. He could hear footfalls in front of them. They were nearing the building he should have never left. Andy was still crying, and D realized he was more carrying the boy his size than dragging him along. His calf ached but it was mending, he lifted his left hand in front of him as he ran and saw a red-pink scar that would soon fade where his cut used to be. His pants were soaked in blood and no matter what he did he could not ignore the smell, could not ignore the cravings. He could feel Andy's pulse, could smell more than just his own blood. Before the revulsion of his humanity disintegrated from his mind he lifted the boy up off of the ground and threw him as far as he could. The boy screeched, and tumbled a few feet in front of them, bruised more than ever but otherwise unhurt. D turned back around and grabbed for the creature in front of him, finding it willing enough to get into arms reach. Ignoring the way it attempted to guide him into its mouth he lunged forward, biting into the crook of its arm and tearing away reeking flesh. The blood was unpleasant, but it was blood, and as the thing shrieked in pain, attempting to back away, D came forward again, to the area between its enlarged head and the cavity of what used to be its side and inner arm. He clawed at it with his hands and tore at it with his teeth, drinking what came flowing out. It was messy, nothing like what he would one day perform, but he was a boy, hungry and frightened. A boy, disgusted in himself.
He could hear Andy screaming throughout this whole experience, and when the thing was finally able to reach him with its good arm and yank him from its side like one removes a tick, he heard the screams become one long negative. His face was before the creature's face again, and D could see how no one had been able to find a shred of evidence as it opened its mouth, its joints popping, to show off a gaping hole larger than he was. In the corner of its cavernous maw he could see a silver watch stuck on one of its back teeth. He wondered who it had belonged to.
He gagged as it lifted him forward, his struggles futile as even when he broke one of its many clawed fingers with his strength the hand closed more tightly around him, and he heard his back pop from the exertion. He thought of Bakura…
"Mother of God…" he heard someone whisper and he felt such a pain in his body that he seized up, but not before a gunshot was heard. He twisted his head, trying to ignore the pain and saw a group of people standing before Andy with varying types of guns raised. The one that Bakura was holding was smoking in the cold air.
Blood gushed over D as he fell from the things clutches, black and tacky. As he hit the ground he heard more gunshots and the wail of the creature as it lurched back and then forward in its pain. He clawed at the ground, kicking with his feet to hurry away as it fell forward for the last time. Before he knew it, arms were around him, checking him over, too much talking, too much speaking, and Andy was screaming over and over, "HIS HAND, HIS HAND, HE WAS EATING IT!"
It was absurd; the thing had not taken his hand. It was right in front of his face as he reached for the only person who mattered at the moment. Bakura swept him off of the ground and away from the others, directing them to take care of Andrew, moving D off and away from the main sight of carnage.
"I'm sorry…" D whispered, clutching at Bakura, listening to his heart beat. "I'm sorry…"
"Hush," Bakura replied, "Breathe, breathe slowly, and don't look towards them."
"Why?"
"Your eyes," he said, his voice low, "I don't think they saw, but keep them closed and don't look toward them. Are you alright?"
"My calf hurts," D said, figuring it would be best to be honest, "and Andy saw my wrist. It was in half for a little bit." He lifted his left arm to show him the already lightening scar.
Bakura cursed low under his breath which brought tears to the boy's eyes. The young man noticed and shook his head. "I'm not mad at you," he said.
"You should be," the boy sniffled. "It's my fault we were out here…"
"What?!" Bakura exclaimed, but before he could respond the others were calling him. "Stay right here," he replied, curt. "Right here." The boy only nodded and turned away, lying on the pavement in a fetal position, feeling like he wanted to throw up. He could still feel Andy's heartbeat as he had shoved him along, could smell the blood, and sweat, and fear. He curled up tighter, trying to forget.
The sun rose on a somber city. The budding fog of the early morning turned the surrounding area into a pink and gold glow. Stragglers that had been a part of the meeting now stood at the opening of San Mateo Rd. Their faces were haggard and tired. The children had been taken home by one family member or another, including Andrew, who had been taken away by his mother. Another hour after the confusion most of the city's people had followed suit. Others, like Elizabeth, stood with the group outside. The girl wore a look of such forlorn sadness that it could have broken anyone's heart.
Sea air blew towards them, seeming to offer its own goodbye to the travelers that stood by what would open up into Highway 92. They were freshly dressed, had gathered their belongings, been given food enough until they might reach another city, and D now wore a travelers hat that had once belonged to Matt. It was not the one he would be most famous for, but it still had great meaning.
Bakura had his gun.
"If you keep following this road, it's going to really wind on you, and wind you; there is a steep incline at one point. But if you stay to the left it should take you to I-280 which will take you to any city you want," Matt said. His hands were in his pockets, but he pulled them out to shake Bakura's hand. "You've got the map in your bag. Don't waste the food or water if you don't have to, and stay on the road. I doubt the map would be useful to anyone off-road."
"I won't," Bakura replied. "Thank you, for everything."
Matt nodded. "Same here," he said, "I'm just sorry this happened so soon. When I warned you…I didn't realize…"
"It's okay. You and everyone else need to keep each other safe and together. We'll just cause unnecessary worry."
"I just don't understand," Matt said, running his fingers through his hair, "What really happened back there? My son was screaming—"
"Andrew should be fine."
"Aside from a nasty scare, and probably a few nightmares, I think he will be. Then again, we'll all probably have nightmares from that thing." He shuddered. "Those eyes. Eyes shouldn't look like that dead or alive…I think we'll both have to keep a better eye on our boys from now on."
"You know where it was coming from, so keep an eye out for that."
"And…I'll not talk about what my son told me he saw."
"I think most people who were there sort of know," Bakura said with a sad half smile.
"Maybe so…but then again not many of us really know what we saw," Matt replied, and then bent down to pat the top of D's covered head. It was good hearted, and full of genuine affection for the boy who would know little in his long life. "Now you be a good kid you here? And stay just as brave."
D gave a silent nod, pulling down his hat a little more.
"So…this is good-bye."
When some distance had been put between them, Bakura had turned for a last wave. It was then that Elizabeth tore from the meager group to race after them. The two stopped, Bakura in shock, D following the young man's lead, and they waited for her to reach them.
"Don't!" She said, grabbing at Bakura, who was clearly unprepared for such a thing. "Don't go! Stay, please!"
"We can't—"
"You need practice with that gun! I know it…and D…he needs a place where he's safe. He's just a kid! And…and…"
"Elizabeth," he replied, pained. "We can't stay. People saw what happened back there, and whether or not you and your family can get over the fear of what D can do…most can't."
"But you can't go! You two are so nice and I want you to stay and," she sobbed against his chest. Bakura could see her father coming up the way and tried to pull her away but she clung harder. "I…love—"
"No," Bakura replied firmly, forcing her away to look at him. "You don't. You like me. I'm sure I'm different in a lot of ways that seem fascinating to you, but I don't belong here."
"Take me with you!" she pleaded, "I can help! There's nothing for me over here, and you saw what was attacking us! What if there's more?"
"There are more frightening things in the world than that, I am sure," he said, "And you'll miss your family. They need you here, they need you for your brother, and I know they'll help you find happiness."
"But…"
"Elizabeth, get over here," Matt said, gently pulling her away from Bakura, "They have to go."
She sobbed into her father's arms who looked at Bakura with a look of regret. He nodded for them to leave which they did, giving one final wave.
"Bakura-sama," D said after they were about a mile out. His silence had been near tangible after what had happened. Bakura had never scolded him for leaving the hall, partially because there had been little time. Mostly because he knew the boy already was ashamed of himself. He welcomed this discussion, no matter what it was. "It's funny, sort of…"
"What is, D-kun?"
"The sun is rising…" the boy pointed out, "and we're walking into it."
"Yes?"
The boy let himself smile a little. "Well, I'm not really saying it's like it at all really, but in the shows that I sometimes was allowed to watch, the cowboys or the lone ranger or…you know, they'd ride into the sunset."
Bakura chuckled. "I guess it's kind of funny. We're walking into the sunrise. A bit backwards."
D fidgeted with his hat. "Why do you think they were always going west?"
"Hm?"
"Well, the sun sets in the west. All of them were heading west."
Bakura shrugged. "I have no idea," he said, stopping. He knelt down and pulled the boy into a hug. The child clung to him, and the long held in tears were released. They remained there for a time, time that Bakura could not tell. The sunrise was near over before D looked up at him and asked him for forgiveness. Bakura smiled and pulled the boy in for another embrace, one that expressed that there was nothing to forgive.
"I'd never thought that I'd think that about another person," D said after they began walking again. "I know it sounds stupid, but I never did. I always thought…I don't know…that it would be enough, whatever you gave me. That's why I threw Andy."
"And I'm sure he's fine. You have a lot of self control."
"No I don't," the boy grumbled, kicking at a rock.
"I'm not going to argue this with you," Bakura said, pushing his bangs back to get a slightly better view of the road ahead of them. "Now, let us ride into the sunrise!"
"What?!" D exclaimed, at first in confusion and then in surprise as he was swept up into a high piggy back ride. And he did ride, laughing and whapping at Bakura's head and back, to put him down, to stop being stupid, he wasn't a baby, into the sunrise.
They followed their questionable route east with slightly lighter hearts, but the road before them would not be easy, and although they had already faced and survived many horrible conditions, luck would not follow at their sides.