Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Of Pointed Ears and Dancing Fairylight ❯ I’m Staring At These Four Walls Again ( Chapter 4 )

Oh, fic, how do they love Thee? Let me count the... REVIEWS!! Whee! And so many of them, too! ^.^ I was actually hoping to surpass Ruby in the Shadows, my story with the most reviews (21), with that last chapter, but I figure now I'll do it, anyway. ^.^; Thanks so much, minna-san! *huggles everyone, then obligingly passes out sugar cookies* Par-tay, everyone! *puts on purple party hat and throws handfuls of silver glitter around the room*

Of Pointed Ears and Dancing Fairylight

Chapter Four: I'm Staring At These Four Walls Again

Yugi shivered a bit, but his reaction did not stem from cold. His amethyst eyes gained a tint that Yami could see all too well was nervousness.

"Who exactly is this person, Yugi?"

"... The Dark Sage. They call him the Dark Sage."

**********

"...Um."

"Huh?" Yugi turned from where his head had been contentedly laying against Yami's chest, blinking groggily, and grimaced at the sight of what lay before them. "...Oh, boy..." The small youth yawned and unhooked his arms from where they had been securely wrapped around Yami's neck. "Here, let me down. I think I'll be fine now..."

"Are you sure? I don't want you to--" the taller youth asked doubtfully, even as he complied. It didn't seem to him to be that long ago that Yugi hadn't even been able to take five steps without stumbling in the weakness that had overcome the shorter boy after he had healed Yami. The violet-eyed boy hadn't even protested when Yami had picked him up and carried him, just flashed him a grateful smile.

"I'm fine, Yami." the smaller boy waved him off, absently straightening his medieval-style clothing as he turned his full attention to what was in front of him.

Symbolically enough, what now lay before our two hapless heroes was... a seemingly abandoned graveyard. Yugi let his eyes scrutinize the whole scene, noting the upturned earth near the headstones and the slightly damp ground with trained eyes.

"Is this what you meant by 'a long and hard trek'?" Yami asked, somewhat dryly. Was this expected to scare him or something otherwise as foolish? He had never been afraid of things that went bump in the night, nor did he shy away from his own shadow.

"I... suppose so." Yugi agreed reluctantly. "Like I said before, I'm not quite sure what we will have to go through here, but... it looks like this might be it." The shorter youth pursed his lips in thought, the shivered.

"Yugi?"

"... I can... sense things here, Yami... An aura of malice... I don't think it likes us much..." Yugi shivered again, then straightened, his face fixing into a determined expression that did not pass Yami by unnoticed.

"It's only justice, I'd expect. After all, we are trespassing on it's land." Yami replied, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Whatever 'it' is, in this case. He kept that depressing thought to himself, however.

Yugi blinked in surprise, before a smile blossomed on his face, and he nodded. "You're right. We should be prepared, too." And suddenly Yami was face-to-blade with a gleaming broadsword, being held out to him from Yugi. "Here. You might need this."

Yami took the offered blade wordlessly, weighing it in his hands. He'd never held a real sword before, but this one was lighter than he had expected them to be, and the hilt fit perfectly in his grasp. The blade shone menacingly in the mage-light Yugi kept always above their heads, and for a moment Yami thought there was something else reflected in it's surface, something that should not have been in the tunnel with them...

It was gone as quickly as it had come, if it had ever really been there in the first place, and Yami shook it off as a trick of the light, glancing down at his smaller counterpart and finding that Yugi, too, held a sword that seemed made for him. The violet-eyed boy looked like he was quite competent with the blade, too. Yugi caught his gaze and interpreted it correctly.

"They're Elven blades; they're magically made to fit their owner perfectly." Yugi's eyelids flickered shut for a split second, and Yami frowned minutely as another query came to mind.

"How do you make them... appear... like that?" At the faintly guilty look that flitted across Yugi's face, Yami's suspicions were confirmed without a doubt. "You used your magic." The boy nodded, and Yami sighed. How was he supposed to look our for Yugi's well-being if the boy wouldn't even look out for himself? "Yugi--"

"A bit of small magic like summoning my weapons isn't going to wipe me out. And besides, we need them."

Yami couldn't exactly argue with that logic. He shut his mouth, looking faintly disgruntled, but followed Yugi when the boy took a determined step forward, a silent agreement passing between the two.

Yugi advanced cautiously, sword held out before him, ready for an attack from any side. What he wasn't expecting, however, was the violent chill that swept through his consciousness all of a sudden, as if he had been doused with an invisible bucket of freezing water, as he took his first step into the graveyard grounds.

Something's not right here... Something is very, very wrong with this place... But I can't seem to put a finger on it...

Their twin footsteps echoed harshly around the two as they advanced slowly, seeming too loud in both their ears. The air was still around them; perhaps lying undisturbed for centuries, millennia, before the entrance of Human and Elf. It somehow seemed sacrilegious to even breathe wrong in a place like this. Yet nothing stirred, awakened to extract some twisted sort of vengeance from their souls for treading on mostly-undisturbed ground. Nothing around them even twitched.

And that was what scared them both the most.

"Be careful. Something's not right here." Yugi's harsh whisper carried much farther than the Elf guessed it should have, and he unconsciously tensed, reading for a sudden assault.

Nothing. The two proceeded farther with not even a hint of movement besides themselves.

It stayed like that fro some time, as the two slowly but surely made their way across the graveyard undisturbed, passing many toppled and broken gravestones along the way. It wasn't until they had crossed slightly farther than halfway that the trouble began.

Yugi sensed it the moment Yami stiffened behind him, heard the slight rustle as rocks and sand were dislodged from place. It was all the warning either of them got before all Hell broke loose, both around and under them.

Yugi whipped his blade around and slashed at the ground as he felt something grab his foot, trying to drag him down. He twisted and tripped ,falling solidly to the earth and feeling stone and gravel dig sharply into his face and chest. Those would bloom into some nasty bruises later on, but right now he had bigger things to worry about. He shifted and got a better grip on his sword, flipping himself around despite the grip on his ankle and once again slashing at the... hand that had popped out of the ground. The bloodied, decaying hand that had sprouted from a gravesite.

"Yugi!"

"Go on! Run! I'll be right behind you!" he called out to the concerned Yami, too busy concentrating on the task at hand to turn and locate the other with his eyes. Another swipe and he had cut messily through the rotting appendage, allowing him to jump back on to his feet with relief. When the hand didn't loosen it's grip, he grimaced and used his blade to pry it tediously off.

Other hands had sprouted from the ground now, all scrambling for purchase on living flesh. Yugi took care to walk just out of reach of all of them, picking a dainty but swift path through the graveyard and towards freedom from these undead creatures. He lifted amethyst eyes, searching for the tall figure of Yami towards the exit-- and felt his heart lurch into his throat.

**********

Yami had somehow made it safely to the exit of the graveyard, practically dancing to avoid the grasping hands that popped out of the earth, awkwardly hopping around and knowing that he looked ridiculous but not really caring at that precise moment in time. The tall youth sighed in relief and glanced around, trying to spot Yugi making his way towards him, hopefully much more gracefully than Yami himself had, when a fear-tinged shriek cut the air, piercing to his very bones.

His head jerked around to the source of the sound, crimson eyes latching onto the already-familiar form of Yugi in an instant. The small Elf was backed against the wall of the tunnel, body quaking in fear and sword lying forgotten at his feet, pale arms thrown up protectively to ward off an imminent attack from-- a basketball-sized sphere of metal, floating in midair?

Yami blinked, double-checking his eyes. Yep. It was definitely just a bit chunk of unidentified metal. Yet Yugi was terrified, frozen in fear, unable to even defend himself. What was wrong with the boy?

"Y...Yami!" Yugi choked out, unable to look away from the slowly approaching metal ball, which hovered in front of him, shoulder-height to the small Elf. "Get it away! I can't stop it. Don't let it touch me!" His last words were terror-filled and plaintive, pleading. Yugi tried desperately, uselessly, to flatten himself to the stone wall at his back even more than he had already done, violet eyes whirling in abject fear.

Yami didn't think, then, just lunged for Yugi; whatever it was, it was scaring the smaller boy almost into a catatonic fit just by being there, and, silly as the danger may seem to him, Yugi was sure taking it seriously, so he should as well.

He connected solidly with Yugi, the effort sending them both tumbling to the ground, Yami crouched over Yugi as hardened crimson eyes glanced over his shoulder towards the strange metal ball, which had changed direction and was once again headed for him... and Yugi. Yami cursed under his breath and picked up the smaller boy easily, dodging both metal orb and grasping, undead hands as he made his way to the exit for the second time.

Yugi whimpered slightly in his grasp and he paused, glancing around to make sure they were safe -- for now-- before he assented and set the boy gently on the ground. His ruby-hued eyes darted instantly to Yugi's right hand, which the smaller boy cradled gently with his other arm, and he stifled a gasp.

On the boy's palm, in glaringly obvious plain sight, was a bright red, painful-looking burn. Yami brushed gentle fingers across the wound, and Yugi winced and bit his lip. "Hurts..."

"Sorry," came the immediate apology, and Yami jerked his hand back. What had-- How had--

Yugi offered him a small but genuine smile, pained though the expression was. "Besides... you're fingers are cold."

Yami ignored the jest, cupping the small, injured hand in his own. "Yugi... what--"

The shorter boy bit his lip. "Cold Iron... the metal ball... it's poisonous to Elven kind, Yami... skin contact burns, and causes other psychological hallucinations..." He winced as Yami again brushed his fingers across the wound, then his eyes widened in an almost comical expression when he felt a strange, white heat cover the wound. When he glanced back down, the burn was gone, vanished in lieu of pale, unblemished skin. A glance up at Yami showed the Human's eyes glazed over as he absently ran his fingers lightly across Yugi's palm, as if he didn't realize what had happened. Yugi couldn't suppress a half-giggle.

"Yami, that tickles..."

The taller boy blinked, gaze darting from Yugi's palm to his face as crimson eyes cleared. "What the--"

"You healed me. I told you, you're the one I was supposed to find. I knew it!" Yugi broke into a brilliant smile. He had known that Yami was the one, but he couldn't help doubting before. Now, all his doubts were gone, vanished under a relief that seemed to touch his soul. The motion also served to make him more determined than ever that they make it through this weird time-tunnel. "Yami, I knew it!"

Yugi allowed himself a quick hug to the taller boy before he stood, dragging Yami up with him. For the first time, he noticed their surroundings. In front of them was a long, tall wall, with one break in the middle that obviously served as an entrance to... something. Next to the entrance was a wooden sign, with the words 'Maze of Three Gates -- Three Fatal Trials Await All Those Who Dare' in fresh-looking black paint.

Yugi wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. A nervous glance back, however, solidified his conclusion to continue forward.

"...Well, shall we get going, then?" He asked, purposefully adding a note of cheerfulness into his voice. He started forwards determinedly and could hear Yami wordlessly trailing close behind him.

The instant they stepped inside and had their footing, glancing around nervously, the walls shifted around them, appearing where they hadn't been before, and blocking off any and all chances of escape backwards. Yami cast a rather nervous glance behind him, then looked forward again-- only to find himself faced with a blank wall, and not the back of Yugi's head, as he'd expected.

"Yugi? Yugi where are you?!"

"Yami! The wall cut us off! I can't get back to you!" came the instant, muffled reply in Yugi's voice from the other side of the wall. The blank wall that was way too tall and smooth to even think about climbing, Yami decided after no more than a moment's thought, frowning.

"Shit."

TBC...

^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^

Coming Soon: The Three Trials begin! Finally, at the Dark Sage! And what's this about Bardic Magic, Yugi? ... Yami has to what?!

*blink* ...Yeah. ^.^

The fourth chapter is done! Whew! Sorry this took a bit longer, I've been working on a Seto/Jou fic I started. Speaking of which... *goes off to work on it, handing Threnody a sign as she goes*

Threnody: -.-; *holds up sign*

Sign: Review! ... Please? For me? ... Ok, if not for me, for him? *Yugi puts on his cute little puppy-dog eyes for the readers* And don't forget to leave any suggestions you might have in the Reviewer's Box!

(Wow. That's a long sign. O.o)