Childer of the Serpent

Chapter Three : Part Of Accepting The Bite

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Snakes were never something that had been scary to Mokuba Kaiba.

So he steeled himself, and entered Ryou's house, the entire Yuugi-tachi and his brother in front him, everyone gathering for the Christmas celebration.

He somehow wasn't surprised to find Bakura sprawled abstractly in front of the fire place, his snake curled across his chest and abdomen, its head coming to rest quietly in the crook of Bakura's head and his neck.

As Mokuba gazed thoughtfully at the snake, and looked back as Ryou looked in the room, glancing at his dark, then at the youngest Kaiba. He gave a strange looking grin, and quietly closing the door, but not before Mokuba saw a strange set of scars on Ryou's neck that looked suspiciously like -

'Bite marks? Ryou's been bit by the snake?'

He looked back down at the snake and its owner, only to find both looking straight at him. Slowly Bakura sat up, and Mokuba watched as the snake shifted with him, coming to coil loosely around the king of thieves neck.

Bakura crooked a finger, beckoning the raven headed boy, and Mokuba walked forward quietly, unwilling to show any fear. He was a Kaiba, after all.

Bakura looked pleased, and brought up a thin, graceful hand, grabbing Mokuba's wrist and pulling the boy down to sit in front of him.

They sat in silence for a second, before Bakura spoke in his strange Egyptian-English accented voice, speaking slowly between sentences.

"You are in love with me."

"No."

Bakura gave a nod. "Correct."

"I am...interested in you."

"Yes. You would not be opposed to a relationship of a long term sort though."

"No."

"Are you aware why?"

Mokuba thought for a second. "You are dark. Not like Atemu or Mariku, but all on your level. You can be evil, and kill if you think the situation permits it, yet you will sacrifice yourself for those you care about for that same reason."

"Yes. This is true."

"You know, I've never been afraid of snakes." Mokuba remarked absently, watching the large black snake move languidly over Bakura's fingers.

"Oh?"

"Yeah...but this one...it makes you seem..." Mokuba paused, trying to bring his thoughts together in a comprehensive way. "It makes me think that without it, you wouldn't be complete."

Bakura gave a dark smirk, moving to stroke the snake under the head. "You are correct, Mokuba Kaiba. This snake holds a part of my soul."

"I see." And he did. He knew about the spirits habit of sealing his soul into things, and the fact he had done it with his ... pet? No that wasn't strong enough...the fact that he had done with his familiar was not all that surprising.

"I saw the bite marks on Ryou's neck." Mokuba said quietly, gently rearranging his legs.

"Did you?"

"Mm-hmm."

Bakura gave a small smile, and brushed aside his hair, letting Mokuba see the two distinct scars of a snake-bite on the pale neck of the thief.

"My familiar...binds me and my Yadonushi. It makes us family. At my command, he will withhold his poison." Mokuba noticed absently that he had been right about the snake being Bakura's familiar.

Mokuba was intrigued.

"You can do that?"

"Only with my familiar."

Mokuba nodded.

"Will you let him bite you?" The quiet voice asked, looking at the one he knew belonged in his family.

Mokuba looked up, not bothering to play the spirit as a fool and ask him what he meant. He knew that the spirit knew something about him - indeed, he had been aware for some time that he and the spirit of the ring were bonded in some way. He believed it had stemmed from sometime long ago, while still on Duelist Kingdom.

"You will not let him poison me?"

Bakura gave Mokuba a look.

"Part of the acceptance of the bite is accepting that you trust me enough to call of the poison. It is also realizing I may choose not too." The voice stated in its accent dripped voice.

Mokuba looked at Bakura, thinking hard.

"Will you grant me the request of laying by my side at the fire as it bites me?"

Bakura thought for a moment.

"That is acceptable." He stated quietly, letting the smaller on toe his shoes off, and remove his jacket, setting them neatly by the table, moving cautiously to lay at the side of the thief king, facing one another.

One arm was pillowing Bakura and Mokuba's heads, and Bakura used the arm to pull Mokuba up tight against him. Mokuba was stiff for a short second, and then relaxed, moving to hesitantly to hold the thief king himself.

"Will it hurt?"

"......yes."

"Can you make it so the others cannot hear? My brother will come running should I scream." Mokuba stated quietly, his head pressed beneath Bakura's own.

Bakura paused for a second, then twitched his fingers slightly, a black and purple fog surrounding the doorways.

"It is done. Are you ready?"

"No, but I am prepared." He said quietly.

Bakura nodded. He looked at his familiar, and the black snake uncoiled slowly, moving up over Mokuba's chest, and up his arm to let its head rest on Mokuba's neck.

Mokuba trembled slightly, but made no move to dislodge the snake, holding slightly tighter to the king of thieves.

A quiet voice spoke into Mokuba's ear. "You really shouldn't have trusted me."

Before Mokuba moved, the body beside him tightened his grip harshly, and the snake struck, its poison driven deep into the body of the one beneath him.

But Mokuba barely felt it. He simply looked up into disinterested crimson eyes. "At least...I get to die in your arms..." He whispered, before the poison took its toll, and the youngest Kaiba collapsed.

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So I will post Chapter One, Two and Three today, and then depending on how well this is liked and received, will directly affect how quickly the others are updated.

Okay, so let me know what you think! ^_^