To Lose the Light

Okay, it’s three in the morning, and I’m about ready for some sleep, so here’s the chapter.

******

Yami lay stretched out across Yugi’s bed on his stomach, trying to sleep. The curtains were open, and he had found a nightlight as well and plugged that in, but the room still seemed too dark.

Sighing, he flipped over onto his back, and stared at the ceiling. He knew why it seemed so dark, and physical light had nothing to do with it. He sat up and looked around, spotting a stuffed toy laying half under the chair. He walked over and picked it up. The toy was modelled after a kuriboh. Yami smiled, carrying the creature back to the bed. He lay back down and cuddled it close. It wasn’t his Aibou, but it would do, for now.

******

“Bakura! Help me.” Bakura reached out for his hikari’s hand, barely missing it, as Ryou was slowly sucked down into the dark waters.

“Hikari! No!”

“Bakura! Yami!” Then there was a surge, and Ryou disappeared from sight…

Bakura jerked up with a gasp, staring around the small bedroom wildly. Then he shook his head, calmed his breathing.

“Just a dream.” He unconsciously reached to see what Ryou was doing, before he remembered.

There was a knock at the door, and Bakura rose reluctantly to open it. Marik stood outside, looking more then a little uncomfortable. He held an overnight bag.

“Mind if I stay here tonight? Our… My place seems empty, for some reason.” Bakura nodded and let Marik in.

“There’s only one bed.” He warned. Marik shrugged.

“I don’t mind if you don’t.” Bakura tracked down another blanket, while Marik changed.

Marik fell asleep first, while Bakura still lay awake, worrying about the dream. Then Marik threw his arms around him, snuggling close. Bakura considered pushing him away, but the feeling was somewhat akin to Ryou being there, so he finally relaxed and went to sleep.

******

At Aila’s camp, the three hikari were having similar trouble. Ryou and Malik had chosen to sleep together in one tent, supposedly because they didn’t trust Aila or her group, but Yugi was sure there was another reason. He hadn’t mentioned his suspicions, though, only shaking his head when they had invited him as well.

Yugi sat by the fire long after the others had turned in. Finally, he stood, and moved away from the fire, towards the jungle around them. One of the guards, the Negro who had spoken to them on the beach, stood as he walked past.

“Don’t go too far. There are dangerous creatures abroad at night.” Yugi nodded absently.

The jungle was quiet, but far from silent. Insects buzzed around him, and a pair of some species called out to each other. The sounds were different from what Yugi was used to, but somehow soothing. At least until he realized he was being followed.

He wasn’t sure how he knew, maybe it was something he had picked up from Yami, but he knew someone or thing was watching him.

“Who’s there?” He called out.

“You’re pretty good for a city boy.” A girl appeared suddenly in front of him. Yugi took a surprised step back. “Too good.” Her eyes narrowed. “There’s a strange aura around you.”

“Who are you?” Yugi demanded stepping away when she lifted her hand as if to touch some invisible force. The girl blinked and returned her gaze to him.

“I am called Taryn.” She answered, then disappeared into the shadows as quickly as she had come.

“Hey, Kid?” The Negro appeared with a torch. “Come on. Aila said you’re supposed to stay in camp.” He turned to lead the way back.

“There was a girl here.” Yugi replied. “She said her name was Taryn.”

“Taryn? I think you got too much sun today. Taryn’s a myth. Supposedly she’s been here since before Sagira arrived. But nobody’s ever seen her. One of the others probably mentioned her near you, and your mind decided to play a trick.” Yugi considered. That was possible, he supposed. He looked over his shoulder, and for a moment was sure he saw a human form moving down the path, but then it was gone.

He stood by the fire a moment, glancing toward the tent that had been set up for him, then looked toward the tent where Ryou and Malik slept. After a moment, he headed toward it.

Malik and Ryou were both asleep. Yugi smiled as he noticed that three of the camp’s sleeping pads had been laid out. They had expected him to come.

There was just enough room between the two for Yugi to slip in. He lay still a moment, saying a prayer to whoever was listening, hoping Yami was alright. Then, surrounded by the comforting presence of his two friends, he fell asleep.

******

Yami groaned as he pulled himself out of bed. Even with the kuriboh, he hadn’t slept very well, plagued with dreams of searching through a maze for Yugi. There had been other people in the maze as well, a brunette girl with strange eyes, and a woman in an Egyptian outfit. Both had seemed oddly familiar, but he couldn’t place them.

“Yami!” Jounouchi called, banging on the bedroom door. Yami opened it and the blonde pushed into the room.

“Hurry up, Kaiba’s found something. Apparently, one girl was attacked like Yugi was, only she escaped. They have her in some mental ward, but Kaiba managed to get us a pass to see her.”

Yami stared at him, then hurried to the closet, and pulled on the first thing he grabbed, blue jeans, a white shirt, and a grey vest. He didn’t bother with any of the extras, other then grabbing the bondage collar and his deckbox on the way out. He’d gotten too used to the collar, and anyways, it was a reminder of Yugi.

******

Kaiba was waiting impatiently in his limo. When Yami and Jounouchi climbed in, he started to make a nasty comment. Then he saw the dark marks under Yami’s eyes, and thought better of it. Instead he merely directed the driver to take them to his private landing pad.

The trip took a couple hours, but eventually they arrived on the other side of the pacific, in Mexico. The small town they were going to was right on the edge of the border.

“This place is a mess.” Kaiba commented as they stepped out of his plane.

“Maybe you should do something about it, Moneybags.” Jounouchi quipped.

“No one told you to speak, Dog.” Kaiba returned. “They need a proper government, not just money.”

Yami paid no attention to their bantering, more anxious to see this girl who might help him find Yugi.

It took another hour before they were finally cleared to see the girl. She looked up as the entered, then scooted away, babbling in some language.

“She’s Spanish.” The guard told them. The girl suddenly stopped, staring at Yami.

“Hombre poderoso.” She said. “Tenga cuidado el antiguo. Tenga cuidado la Isla del Espíritu.(1)”

“What’s she saying?” Yugi asked, in heavily accented English. He had learned from Yugi, and Yugi had never been that interested in other languages. The guard shrugged.

“I’m from across the border. I don’t speak Spanish.”

“La Isla del Espiritu!(2)” The girl repeated. Suddenly a woman appeared, looking annoyed.

“What are you doing with my patient? Look, now you’ve got her upset.” It was true, tears of frustration fell from the girl’s eyes.

“Yo no estoy loco. La Isla del Espíritu se debe destruir.(3)”

“La Isla del Espiritu.” Yami repeated awkwardly, then switched to Japanese unconsciously. “She keeps saying that. What does it mean?”

The woman glared at him, and the guard ushered them out.

“Sorry, the doctor is a little overprotective. She’s good at what she does, though.”

“It’s perfectly understandable.” Kaiba replied fluently. “Thank you for your time.”

They returned to the plane, Yami more upset then ever, and flew back to Domino.

******

Yugi wandered through the jungle, searching for some sign that Taryn really existed. There was nothing where they had met, no footprints other then his own. Of course, there was ample time for her to have removed any signs. Aila had kept them busy with camp chores and it was now well into the afternoon. Yugi’s feet ached, unused to going barefoot so long.

Then he caught a glimpse of something. A small red flower lay under a bush. It must have been carried to that spot, for there were no others like it nearby. He knelt to study the flower closer, then someone called his name. He stood and took a few steps away from the bush. He saw something move, out of the corner of his eye, and he turned. The flower was gone.

Yugi stared. Either Taryn really existed and didn’t want anyone else to know, or he was going crazy.

“Yugi, come on.” Marik called. “Aila says this Deo guy’s nearby.” Reluctantly, Yugi started back to the camp.

From the shadows of a bush, a silent figure watched.

******

When the plane arrived back in Domino, Yami brushed off Kaiba’s promises to keep looking, and Jounouchi’s suggestion of a duel in Kaiba’s court to cheer him up, and returned to the Game shop. Of course, it wasn’t long until Jounouchi showed up again, this time with Anzu.

The pair insisted on taking him out for ice cream. Yami was usually nearly as fond of ice cream as Yugi was of chocolate. He wasn’t really that interested today, but they kept at him until he agreed.

As they walked down the street towards the ice cream parlour, they saw Bakura headed toward them. He looked more then a little lost. Yami’s eyes lit up in anger.

“Bakura!” He snarled, and Bakura looked up at him in surprise. Yami frowned as he took in Bakura’s appearance.

The thief was dressed in clothing that looked as if it had been slept in, and his face was drawn. He couldn’t seem to meet the eyes of anyone in the group.

“We’re going for ice cream.” Anzu spoke up, then paused. “W-Would you like to come?”

“All right.” Bakura agreed after a moment. “Ry…” He trailed off with a pained look.

“You know, as long as I have despised his weaknesses, you’d think I’d be happy he’s gone.” He paused. “But, I miss him.” Bakura looked up, met Yami’s gaze, though only for a moment. “I think I’m beginning to understand you.” Marik stepped up as well, catching the last of Bakura’s sentence. He looked somewhat better then Bakura, but it was clear he was feeling the loss of his other half as well.

Yami stared at them, shocked. He started to say something, then stopped, then began again.

“Will you help us find them?” A simple sentence, but it carried more then just the question. There wasn’t quite forgiveness, but a willingness to allow the pair to attempt to atone.

Bakura paused, and he and Marik exchanged glances. Then the two looked back at Yami, and Marik nodded.

“We’ll help.”

******

The translation of what the girl says, roughly.

(1)Powerful Man. Beware the ancient one. Beware Spirit Island.

(2)Spirit Island

(3)I’m not crazy. Spirit Island must be destroyed.

I used freetranslation.com to translate to Spanish, so if I made any big mistakes, and you speak Spanish, feel free to point them out so I can change them.

Enjoy. I’m going to bed.